Wayfinders (Book 4)
by FiresFromOurHearts
Summary: Toru leaves Konoha at long last, but his surprising departure causes Sasuke to swear an oath to bring Toru back. Meanwhile, Toru stands amongst the rubble and ruins of Uzushio and dares to bring the village back to its glory once more, regardless of the danger following him and enemies watching from the shadows. However, beyond both of these villages, a danger grows more deadly.
1. Part 1: Absence

**Day 0**

Sasuke speeds over rooftops, Takuma keeping pace beside him, _(and it seems like his very soul is aching and he is hurting and he doesn't understand why)_. The window to the Hokage's office is open, as it usually is, but Takuma barks before Sasuke can enter through it.

Sighing sharply, Sasuke twists and flips through an open window a floor down. Takuma is right—he can't afford to shove his way through the window and get on the Hokage's bad side, especially when he doesn't really know the Godaime.

Hitting the floor, he rolls and comes up onto his feet, instantly running up the stairs to the next floor. The receptionist for the Hokage stands, mouth opening to shout at him, _(a gleam of metal between their fingers)_, but Sasuke ignores them, _(he feels like he is being stabbed in the chest, something jagged and painful trying to bring tears to his eyes)_. He shoves through the door, letting it slam shut loudly behind him.

"What the-?"

"Send me after my brother!" Sasuke demands, cutting Tsunade off.

"The hell is this chūnin?" Tsunade snaps out and Sasuke realises his mistake as he drops down into a low bow.

"My brother's left, please send me after him, Hokage-sama," he asks, keeping his bow, _(heart beating heavily because what if, what if, what if)_.

"Stand up," Tsunade says, but she doesn't snap at him this time round, her voice dropping in volume. "I thought your brother was in Konoha?"

"No, I mean Toru Uchiha not Itachi, not my brother by blood."

Tsunade frowns. "I think I remember signing off on his resignation form as a ninja," she says slowly. "Has he gone missing? If so, you need to report to someone other than me."

"No, but he left!" Sasuke says. "He can't just leave!"

_(He can't leave me.)_

Sighing, Tsunade drums her fingers against the table twice. "He's a civilian and free to leave. He can't be a missing-nin when he's retired."

Sasuke grits his teeth and chokes on the words he wants to scream and yell. Instead, he forces himself into a bow. "Sorry for wasting your time," he says lowly, before turning on his heel and leaving the office.

And so Sasuke leaves the Hokage building behind, hurting and aching, _(and grieving)_. Even with the turbulent feelings tangled in his chest, something's settling in his mind—resolve. To himself, to Konoha, to the world, he swears that he _will get Toru back_.

* * *

The message reached Tomoe during an inconvenient moment. Ignoring the messenger, Tomoe carefully knots the last stitch, ensuring that Hikaru's cut stays shut—the younger boy had received it when shielding Tomoe's back when one of the older gangs had attempted to turn on them, _(and had successfully been beaten down and ruined and then drawn into their ranks, because one doesn't leave potentially enemies at one's backs)_.

Done, Tomoe turns to the messenger, recognisable by the dark blue bottle cap hidden beneath the flaps of their collar. "Junpei-san, I thought you weren't meant to get back to Konoha until next week?"

The messenger smiles at her, but not in a patronising manner. While a few years older than Tomoe, Junpei knows that she's more powerful than him and accepts it, _(which isn't normal for adults but then Junpei is one of Ryuu's people—a street kid, just like her)_. "Good fortunes and a few Kakumau travellin' with a merchant train givin' me an easy way in. Not that it matters that much, I've got a message from Ryuu-sama for you. Unread, of course."

"Thanks," Tomoe says, taking the handwritten letter from Junpei's outstretched hand. "Rēben's open to exchanges today if you've got something to give."

Junpei nods and left; meanwhile, Tomoe opens the letter—from Ryuu—and reads it. Then reads it again. Something flickers deep in her chest and she grins, turning to those who remain of her gang. They've been based in Konoha the entire time and there's so much outside of Konoha's walls to explore. But, more importantly, Masuyo and Raiden are outside of Konoha's walls and waiting

_(They're all waiting.)_

Grinning, she meets the eyes of all the others in her gang. "C'mon," she says, "we've got a new place to be."

_(And perhaps Ryuu gives her an option, a choice, but Ryuu has given so much always and Tomoe will return the favour. Besides, she doesn't want to be anywhere else aside from Ryuu's side. It's no longer about debts owed or favours repaid. It's about something else entirely.)_

* * *

When one thinks about it, six months isn't a very long time at all. However, when you pretty much share most of your waking hours with only a few people for a year or two, it feels like you've known them forever. Nevertheless, it turns out that a few years isn't long at all when you no longer have a reason to see a person for five days a week, minimum.

And, well, Shou can't really resent how their path has left them as a career chūnin. They can't even resent how they generally see Kiku and Toru once every two or so months. Their friendship is something distant, and although they look back on their genin and early chūnin career fondly, they can't regret the lose of close teammates now.

Shou rereads the note left to them by Toru. They can understand why Toru has left, can't quite begrudge him for it, even though they know that they would never do such a thing. Then again, they aren't Toru. Toru, whose career as a ninja began with the massacre of his clan. Toru, who survived torture and returned. Toru, who disappeared into the ranks of the shadows, even if none of them will ever admit to knowing such a thing.

Perhaps everything had started going downhill when Natsumi-sensei had died or perhaps this is just the way it was always going to turn out. Shou isn't really one for considering the infinity possibilities and the 'could have beens' and 'what ifs'. They've done that before and it just ended in their mind going in endless circles and a mental breakdown or three.

The point is that Shou knows better to consider that the world would be different than it is. The naïve belief that the world could change and would change for the better has deserted him now, years after having graduated from the Academy, _(and they understand that small parts of the world can change, but they know the system won't change and that they will always be under the command of someone more powerful—but they're okay with that now)_. Besides, Toru isn't the kind of person to desert Konoha and from the sounds of it he just wants to retire and find peace for himself. Shou could never begrudge him for that.

Still, they hope Toru comes back soon for his family, more for themself.

* * *

Less than one percent of genins, when promoted, continue to work with their genin teammates after a year of being chūnin. The comradeship formed as a genin team doesn't really leave, but most people outgrow their teammates.

She hasn't put much thought into it since growing distant just seemed inevitable more than anything else. Looking back on it, though, she loved Toru and Shou. They hadn't been her everything but they had been a massive part of her life. She honestly hadn't thought they'd ever grow distant—but they had.

And that's okay. Kiku's accepted that, understood that it's alright for a few years now. People grow apart and people grow closer. It's how life works. People change like the seasons change the tree leaves.

What really compounds the difference between what was and what is are the changes in what happens when she starts dating. Once upon a time, she would have ensured her partner met Shou and Toru. Now though, now she brings her partner to others, people she claims as her friends who are not Shou or Toru.

It's like what happened upon her promotion to tokubetsu jōnin for her taijutsu. She didn't celebrate with Shou or Toru really, but with friends she had made after being promoted to chūnin. Toru had been out of the village at the time and Shou had disappeared into the chūnin corps. Both had congratulated her at some point, but they hadn't really celebrated together. And Kiku is okay with that because they're all different people now and she's met Toru's closest friends and those of Shou. All of them are the better for it. What was will remain in the past and not taint their present.

Naturally, she'll check with Shou about the message, see if they can figure anything out together. But she won't actively go looking for Toru. She'll miss him, but all three of them know he disappeared into the shadow ranks. He took his own heart and bloodied it for Konoha and Kiku won't steal any semblance of peace he can get.

_(She's aiming to be a jōnin sensei one day because there are children out there who are growing into ninjas but are like Toru, with trauma creeping up their backs and settling on their shoulders. Kiku wants to make sure all of them know that they will be alright and give them the tools to form themselves into ninjas they can be proud of.)_

_(Most of all, she wants to be like Natsumi-sensei who was calm and peaceful and Kiku never doubted that she could be more. She wants all those ninjas-in-training to know that. They're more than they think.)_

* * *

There is much that lies unspoken between Toru and himself, Iruka knows. Things that cannot quite be shared aloud. There are things that they keep from one another and to themselves, not for a malicious reason or any such thing but simply because, well, they don't need to know everything about each other.

Due to his status as a ninja, Iruka understands Toru—and can understand why he has left Konoha without saying goodbye in person.

_(It is easy, when they are all ninjas, to manipulate someone into doing what they don't wish to. Iruka is not a good person. He will try for those he teaches, to be a good teacher for them, and he will try to be a good friend to those he loves, but he is not a good person. But he would not prevent Toru would leaving. Toru's kids though? They would ask Toru why and the other ninja would crumble before them and give in. And Iruka can see how easily Toru's emotions could turn to hatred.)_

Iruka can understand Toru leaving and wanting to find something better and reading between the lines, he can find the sentiment that drives Toru—that desire to escape the bloodshed, to find how he can live with so much blood on his hands.

The worst thing is that Iruka should have seen this coming. Because Toru acts much like a war-time ninja who lives, _(and dies),_ for his career as a ninja and enjoys the battles he participates in.

The reason Iruka did not see it coming is because, whilst Toru doesn't completely avoid bloodshed, he avoids unnecessary bloodshed and tries to be a good person even as a ninja.

_(Something within Iruka is angry and rages, pacing furiously. It urges him out of Konoha and to hunt down Toru and drag him back. It is the monster that Iruka carefully grows and watches. It is the danger that Iruka refuses to show in Konoha. It is something that begs to be sated but only on missions fraught with danger. Iruka has never let it control him or dictate his decisions. And he is not about to start now, no matter how much Toru's leaving has caused his world to tremble on its axis.)_

_(There is something else within Iruka that is sure and steady and strong. And it has to do with how Toru leaving is not a betrayal—because it isn't. It isn't like Mizuki who left him hanging on a thread and left him distant from his family. Iruka accepts Toru leaving and finds he isn't as hurt… Probably because he thinks if he got a message to Toru and asked him to come back or was in need of Toru's help, Toru would come racing back without a second thought.)_

_(It's friendship of a high level and Iruka will never regret having it.)_

* * *

In theory, both Sora and Souma have their own small apartments. Sora technically lives in Konoha's west of the Hokage heads where the new apartments were built after the Kyūbi's rampage. Souma, on the other hand, lives close to the Hokage heads in some of the really old apartments that, apparently, were built by the Shodaime Hokage.

The truth is that both are usually involved in ANBU missions and, even when they have a few days off from missions, train—generally with the other members of their team. Thus, it's not strange for Souma to stay over in Sora's apartment, which is bigger than his by a long shot. In fact, he usually spends four nights a week there roughly.

Sora has plans to ensure that Souma starts living with her but those plans commence when she can convince Toru to do the same, _(the only issue is Toru's family, but Toru needs a house not an apartment so she's been keeping an eye out for a good one; none have come up yet)_.

The fact remains that Sora and Souma have their mail sent to different locations and when Sora gets a message that directs to Souma in Toru's handwriting, she searches for one directed at her.

Neither of the notes contain an address, meaning that Toru has sent his summons to deliver them and it's about something that is clearly important yet Toru hasn't come himself.

It's a mystery.

She hands Souma his note while he starts preparing breakfast for both of them. He hums his appreciation and turns the stove to low as he opens his message. Sora opens her own and starts reading it.

Her heart skips a beat and then returns to its steady baseline. Something twists, harsh and unrelenting, but this isn't a betrayal. It's something she hadn't seen coming that's for certain and she is angry and saddened, but this was no betrayal of her trust. Toru has been pushing himself and stretching himself further and further, _(and sometimes she thinks that he deserves something more than the ninja life)_.

Happiness. Contentment. The differences between the two that Toru speaks of.

Sora understands even as she regrets understanding it, because it takes the bitterness and the anger away. She wishes he could have looked her in the eyes and said these words, but she doesn't resent him for not being able to. He is strong regardless.

_(There are more than words to define their relationship and even apart, Sora doesn't think that they'll lose what they have. Although… if Toru doesn't come back soon enough, she may hunt after him to find him and maybe to join him, if he cannot come back home just yet.)_

And then Souma is then, slipping arms around her back and pulling her close. They both breathe. There are no words needed because Sora understands Souma and vice versa, _(they are a team, they are beyond words more often than not)_.

Souma swallows and closes his eyes. Toru's words incite something within him, something soft and easily injured. It hurts but it's aimed, not at Toru, but at the system that had to drive Toru to leave Konoha to find happiness and peace. To be left behind, yes, such things hurt. But he can rationalise it.

Toru will be back soon. He has to be. And if he isn't, well, Souma knows that Sora and he will go after him if it's necessary.

* * *

With a crumbled note in his pocket, Naruto rushes through Konoha to find Sasuke. And when he does, there's no time to blurt out that Toru's gone—not that there's a need to either, Naruto sees the heart-break and angry grief on Sasuke's face and _understands_.

"Toru's a civilian and so he isn't missing," Sasuke says and the words feel like they should be more heartbreaking than they are, but they're not, _(and there aren't enough words to explain the ache that's taking up permanent residence in Naruto's chest; he's certain that Sasuke feels the same)_. "But I'm going to _bring him back_!"

"I'll help," Naruto offers straight away because Toru is family and so is Sasuke, but they're also teammates. "We're going to need to get stronger, right?"

Sasuke jerks his head in a nod. And the sun is overhead and beating down on them warmly and it feels like it should be another day. But it's not. _It's not_. Still, they have team training and Sasuke wants to go, _(he wants to cling to those that are left behind because what if they disappear to, he can't take that)_. "We've got training," he remains Naruto.

Naruto hesitates but Sasuke doesn't wait, just starts heading towards where they normally meet Kakashi-sensei and Sakura in the morning. Naruto catches up to him, walking beside him and offering some kind of silent comfort, _(and Sasuke loves him for it)_.

Sakura's already waiting for them when they get there. She smiles at them and Naruto half-heartedly grins back. Immediately, Sakura's grin drops and she crosses the few steps between them in a hurry, almost tripping over her own feet in her haste. "What's wrong?" She asks, crowding into their personal space. Then, she pauses, and takes half a step back. "You don't have to tell me."

_(This is something Sakura has learnt from the Ninja Academy and interacting with her friends. Sometimes it helps to remind someone that they don't owe you anything, that you are not entitled to hear their problems if they don't wish to share them.)_

"We're a team," Sasuke says, reaching out and gripping both her and Naruto's hands tightly. It's all that really needs to be said, _(it's so much more than mere words)_.

"Toru's gone and a civilian and we can't go after him because he's not missing. An' Sasuke's gonna go after him an'-" Naruto's frantic words are cut off when Sakura squeezes his hand twice in quick succession.

"Breathe," Sakura says. "All I got from that is somehow Toru's missing with a civilian but we can't go after him because he isn't actually missing? And somehow I don't think that's what you meant at all."

Sasuke laughs, something that cracks with hurt—but it's _there_, _(and that's more than Sakura can hope for right now)_. "Toru's retired," he specifies. "And he's left Konoha to like find himself or something. And because of him being a civilian, he isn't a missing-nin meaning that we can't go after him."

"But Konoha's his _home_, so we have to bring him back here," Naruto says. "So we're going to get stronger and then we're going to bring him back home."

_(Naruto and Sasuke both say 'we' and mean themselves as a pair, which Sakura thinks is rather dumb because they're on a team of three.)_

"Alright," Sakura says simply. "Guess we're going to have to step up our training." And, in the face of their flabbergasted faces, she adds, "What? Did you think you wouldn't be aided by your team?"

Sasuke swallows, _(and there is nothing bitter about it, no anger at himself for leaning on his teammates)_, and musters up a smile. "I suppose we weren't thinking."

"Damn right," Sakura says grinning. "We're a team."

_(Less than one per cent of promoted genins remain in their genin teams for over a year. But, by kami, she's going to be part of that tiny percentage. She's not going to let her team separate and grow apart and become distant, even if she has to drag her teammates by their ears. She doesn't think she'll have to do that because they probably feel the same way. But she'll do whatever it takes to keep them together.)_

_(Besides, teams that stick together often become legendary and they're definitely going to earn legends. The ultimate legend will be one of their team, of course.)_

"A team who should've started their warmups already," Kakashi says from behind her. All three newly promoted chūnins jump, Sakura spinning around to see their jōnin sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto says, grinning unrepentantly.

_(They may be chūnins now and not really get a jōnin sensei in theory, but that doesn't mean they won't train together anyway. Both because they want to and partially because Konoha expects it for the first few months of a chūnin's promotion.)_

Yet it's not Naruto or Sakura who catches Kakashi's gaze, but Sasuke. Sasuke, who meets his eye steadily and says, "We need to get stronger, Kakashi-sensei. Will you help us?"

And, well, in the face of that Kakashi can only agree and amp up _his_ team's training, _(because they are a team and they might be pack one day and it's all Kakashi has ever wanted and never thought he'd get)_.

* * *

Itachi does not hear of Toru's departure through rumours, _(which is someone surprising because Itachi would think that Toru would often feature in gossip—but it seems that Itachi is the feature nowadays)_, but through two different things. The first is the lack of Toru's items in the apartment that the younger Uchiha shares with Itachi, _(and Naruto and Sasuke and sometimes Itachi gets lost inside his own head because he doesn't understand why Toru trusts him so much)_. It causes Itachi's shoulders to tense, sets something off in his head, because Itachi can trust Toru, if nothing else, to stop him if he breakdowns and attempts to destroy everything in sight, _(something in his head tells him that he has kept himself in check for his entire life and this isn't about to change, but Itachi doesn't really want to accept the truth in his therapist's words)_.

The second 'thing' that tells Itachi that Toru has left Konoha, and as a civilian nonetheless, is Sasuke. It's the first time he says that has nothing but steady resolve and strength behind it. And it feels like Itachi has been denoted as a sidenote, as something that is less important.

And, honestly, Itachi can't say he hates it. In fact, there is little that Itachi currently hates, _(Danzō, who is dead and has been for some time, he will hate until his own end—not for what he, himself, has done but for Shisui who surely fought and still died, still thought that dying was the only way for anything to work out)_. Konoha is different, but it is a good different—not that Itachi has been out too much, preferring to stick to the areas he has self-designated as within his designated areas.

The Uchiha Clan itself is different to what it once was—and Itachi, no matter how much he mourns his family and his clan, cannot regret the changes. Because the Uchiha Clan of Itachi's memory had been a cold, unsmiling place hindered with strict regulations and the dark eyes of the older Uchihas who expected nothing else aside from perfection. The Uchiha Clan Compound had been all these feelings festering in one place. It had often been quiet and tense and Itachi, looking back on it, had despised it somewhat, _(and despised that his clan had been driven so far away from Konoha that they had decided to turn on Konoha)_.

The compound now is a place of happiness, a place of warmth, of safety. It's nothing that Itachi had expected and it's far from what the Uchiha Clan had been, but the people are distinctly not Uchihas so perhaps it fits.

Perhaps Sasuke doesn't remember how being outside the compound had meant putting on a mask and hiding your true feelings, Itachi remembers such things now. There is none of that in Konoha now. Even the Uchiha name is something that isn't whispered in shadow corners, something to be feared and wary of.

He doesn't understand how any of it happened, but he can appreciate that it happened nonetheless, _(and to think that it had been lead by this relative of Shisui, this half-twisted person that acts like a ghost of Shisui more often than not)_.

* * *

**Day 2**

The day starts off nicely. Naruto wakes up before his alarm and actually feels awake. He lets himself lie in bed for a moment or two, enjoying the warmth. And then, like a switch has been flicked, his mood sours—Toru's been gone for over a day now.

Nevertheless, he pushes the thought to the back of his mind and starts going through his morning routine. As always, Itachi is already up and starting breakfast, _(and Naruto doesn't know how to feel about the older Uchiha because he hurt Sasuke but he's here now and surely that counts for something)_, which Naruto thinks he does because he's not sure what else to do with his time.

All too soon, Naruto and Sasuke are heading towards their usual training ground where they meet Sakura, who's started on warmup stretches already. Sakura halts the training, half-an-hour after Kakashi should have appeared, by saying, "I'm betting his late because of a meeting."

"Nah," Naruto immediately says. "My bet's that he'll be late just because."

The silence stretches for a moment before Sasuke offers his bet. "I reckon he's late because he had a meeting that he was late to—on purpose—causing the meeting to be extended to accommodate his tardiness."

"That's cheating!" Naruto immediately accuses, pointing at Sasuke who snarls, _(although, he fails to hide his grin behind the snarl)_. "You can't use both Sakura's and my bet to create your own!"

"Usual odds?" Sasuke asks smugly, glancing over at Sakura who, laughing, nods.

Before they can move onto their next warmup exercise, Kakashi lands in the training ground alongside an older white-haired ninja. "Ero-sennin!" Naruto crows, before narrowing his eyes in an attempt to stare sternly at the Sannin. "What are you doing here?" At Naruto's words, Sasuke shifts, standing half in the way of Jiraiya's view of Sakura who huffs and crosses her arms, but doesn't actually do anything to get around him.

Jiraiya glances at Naruto's teammates before redirecting his gaze to Naruto, _(which he is both grateful for and confused about; grateful because Jiraiya is a pervert—self-proclaimed even if Naruto only caught him trying to peek into the women's onsen twice and thus calling him out twice, before he had stopped—and he doesn't particularly want Jiraiya to stare at Sakura since she is his teammate and no one deserves to be 'peeped' at; and confused because Naruto is really nothing special in comparison to his teammates)_. "I want to talk to you about something," Jiraiya says. Naruto glances at Kakashi who, whilst looking unhappy, still nods.

"Alright…" Naruto says trailing off. When no one says anything, he adds, "Is this a conversation my teammates can't hear?"

Jiraiya glances between Naruto and his teammates, "Umm," he begins.

_(Sasuke relaxes in this moment, in the face of some weakness and sign of genuine emotion. Sakura, on the other hand, does not because she knows of the Sannin and Jiraiya is the kind of person to act in such a fashion so that people trust him.)_

"Alright, Ero-sennin," Naruto says decisively, "I'll come with. But this better be about something important and not your disgusting perving!"

Jiraiya flails and squawks loudly. "Oi! Don't defame my reputation like that! I'm the super pervert! Nothing could ever be as important as perving!"

Naruto narrows his eyes as his teammates move off with Kakashi and Jiraiya quickly straightens, sensing that his humour is failing to actually be funny. Jiraiya leads him to the outskirts of the training ground in a small secluded clearing.

"So, what's up?" Naruto asks.

"I've heard you've been wanting more training," Jiraiya begins, hands behind his back, "and I am offering you the opportunity to train with the famous Jiraiya the Toad Sage! However, due to my position, I have to leave Konoha to continue travelling and so you will have to come with me."

Naruto frowns, tilting his head to the side. "Why?"

"I'm the spymaster," Jiraiya says bluntly with a frown starting to mar his face. He had thought Naruto knew about that—it's a secret that's pretty well known, not that it makes Jiraiya's task any harder.

"Yeah, that checks out," Naruto replies, "and it makes sense why you've gotten permission to leave Konoha, especially right now. But, like, why me? I'm not special aside from the Kyūbi, but that's not _me_. And you said you want to train _me_, not just teach me how to control the Kyūbi's power or whatever."

Jiraiya scratches his head. "Well, I mean I'm also your godfather so it makes sense that I'd want to train you, you know? It'd be good to pass down my legacy to family."

_(Something in the back of Naruto's head that's dim and small and very often quiet, spins and whirls and wonders whether this the reveal had been a calculated move on Jiraiya's behalf to stop him from considering something further, or maybe it had been an accident.)_

Regardless of Naruto's thoughts, his mouth moves ahead of him. "The fuck? You left me! For this shit hole of a life! If you're my fucking godfather, you'd have actually been around for my childhood! Not just appearing whenever it was convenient to you. That's not what family does! You can fuck off!" During his tirade, Naruto had taken a few steps back from Jiraiya so, once he's finished talking, his on the opposite of the clearing to Jiraiya, _(his back is to the trees and, beyond the trees, his teammates)_.

"Aww, come on kid! It couldn't have been that bad if Hiruzen-sensei has been looking out for you! Besides, if you come with me, I can even tell you who your parents are."

_(There's something heavy in Naruto's stomach and it isn't a burden. It's a thirst for knowledge and the desire for knowledge of his parents but, most of all, it's the understanding that he can't take this false offering.)_

"No thank you," Naruto says, voice cold and eyes colder, _(and he thinks of his friends and how smart they are because of course his friends will help him find out the truth if he ever asks, because that's what friends do—they help each other when asked and, often, without asking)_.

It's been two days since Toru left Konoha.

* * *

**Toru's departure from Konoha doesn't rock the village and shake its foundations, but there are a few whose lives change without warning. In the uncertainty that follows, Team Kakashi pull together stronger and fiercer than ever. Meanwhile, Naruto's unknown family starts to interfere with his life. **

* * *

**Updates will be once a month.**

**This chapter wasn't the easiest to write! Although, that said, I think I wrote it this week? Anyway, this is the first part of the story! It's not the best part and I'm definitely looking forward to Toru's section but that's why I'm aiming to get this part out of the way first - because I'm excited for Toru's part. I hope you guys appreciate the fact I wrote the final ~1000 words of this after coming home - late because my bus was twenty minutes late and so I'm like **half**-dead (probably doesn't help that I went for something like a hike yesterday with my friend and my dogs up in the mountain area because why not).**

**I hope I **managed to show** the emotions of everyone! It's difficult because I naturally struggle, especially with not stating outright the emotions. I've literally been waiting for Sasuke's oath for ages. It **was always going to** end like this (the parallels between Naruto chasing Sasuke and Sasuke chasing Toru amuse me somewhat).**

**I don't think I have too much to say for this chapter because a lot of it is reactions more than anything else.**

**Also, I scanned this more than anything because I just wanted to get it up and out there rather than waiting until like halfway through tomorrow (I wanted to be in bed like twenty minutes ago so please appreciate this).**

**Jiraiya... His characterisation is odd because being a pervert is very much looked down upon in Konoha but it's still a key aspect of his personality, even if it's just a façade for other things. A lot of his loudness and actions are an act, something that is based off his personality but amped up by like a factor of ten bceause he is a ninja and it's an easy way to hide how ninja he is and it very much helps put people at ease, which was like one of his main aims on a team with the other Sannin (because Tsunade had a temper that was easy to rouse and Orochimaru didn't really understand civilians and some people's ethics and morals).**

**Naruto swearing, I feel, isn't out of character. But I'm exhausted and was potentially writing just what was in my notes for that bit (which includes 'you can definitely fuck off?') so you know. Naruto is really angry though because he knows he deserved better and more and was, more than anything, owed it by the man who was labelled as his godfather. It's an easy choice to choose his team over his godfather, who has had no real input into his life until recently, (and Naruto does not want to hears reasons or excuses, not right now at the very least).**

**I was debating whether to end on the 'been two days' bit or have my normal kinda-summary at the end. In the end, I went with the latter because it helps remind me what went on each chapter so it probably works for you guys as well.**

**Anyway, enjoy this! (Also, guess who got published on an online magazine!). It'll be a while until the next chapter - I'll aim for the end of the month or something, rather than the weird date that is the 6th.**


	2. Part 1: Perseverance

**Day 3**

Sasuke's the one who opens the door in the morning, letting Shou and Kiku into the apartment. He's not really surprised that they're here—or, he is surprised, but only because they've come now, _(it's been three days, three days, three days, and he's still gone and where is he and-)_. Shou smiles at him and it's not filled with pity, instead its full of understanding, _(Toru did not just leave him behind, but others as well)_. Meanwhile, Kiku's hand falls on his shoulder, tightening softly, and then the pair head towards the kitchen.

"Haven't seen you in ages Sasuke-chan!" Kiku says brightly, turning the stove on.

_(The words are light with levity, yet—beneath it—the words are dripping with sincerity.)_

Sasuke grimaces, "Don't call me that," he says, half-heartedly, because he knows all too well that Kiku is never going to drop the nickname, _(and all because he once answered to Sakura-chan because he thought he heard his name)_.

Kiku grins back and Naruto emerges from the bathroom, yawning and looking rather tired despite the fact they'd been up for a while already. "Hey, Kiku-chan, Shou-san!" He immediately greets.

"Naruto-kun, you've gotten so big!" Kiku says, "But you've got a long way left to go if you want to be the same size as your appetite for ramen."

Shou rolls her eyes and elbows Kiku in the ribs, causing Kiku to yelp and shift sideways. "That joke got old eons ago," she said, which Kiku responds to by sticking her tongue out.

Another door opens and Sasuke meets Naruto's eyes nervously because neither Kiku nor Shou have actually met Itachi—or seen him in their apartment. Returning his gaze to Toru's old genin teammates, he manages to see Shou stiffen, tensing for a moment before consciously reacting. Kiku, on the other hand, doesn't seem to react aside from her eyes flickering towards the sound and then back to the pan she'd just put on the stove.

"Hope you guys want breakfast," Kiku says, her voice losing some of its light-heartedness.

"Making extra?" Sasuke asks, sitting down. "Kakashi-sensei said that we'd be starting training later today so we're probably going to run overtime."

"We can make extra," Shou answers. "How many servings?"

Naruto glances at Itachi, whose face is shadowed as he stands awkwardly in the doorway. "Three," he says, "please."

Shou hums in acknowledgement and works together with Kiku to help cook breakfast. Aside from the pair's brief murmuring, it's silent. The air is almost tense even though Sasuke can't actually pick out an exact reason, _(he knows though—it's because of Itachi; it's not Itachi's fault but it also is and Sasuke knows that the pair dislike Itachi as he killed Toru's family and Sasuke's family and they drowned in grief for a long time after)_.

Once all the food is laid out, and they've started eating, Shou and Kiku finally breach the topic that Sasuke knew was coming. "What are you planning to do about Toru?"

Sasuke meets their gazes and feels Naruto's presence next to him like it's something physical, _(and it's comforting, it's strength that Sasuke can rely on; it feels like it's all around him, encompassing him, and maybe it doesn't fit the gaps left behind by Toru—but it's only grown stronger from this, both of them have gotten stronger or maybe they're just learning that they're stronger than they thought)_. "We're going to bring him home," he says quietly, but resolutely because there isn't any other outcome—they're going to bring Toru home. There's no other option, _(and he doesn't think he's ever felt determination like this—not even for revenge on Itachi after the massacre)_.

Shou hums, thoughtful, but not doubtful, _(and it takes him back, reminds him of years ago, when he had spoken about revenge and avenging his clan and Toru hadn't doubted him but asked for justice instead—hadn't disagreed but had thought about the future instead; this is similar, even though it's not the same and could never be the same since it's not Toru speaking)_. "Then we wish you luck with that," she says. "We can't help you out in the field, but in Konoha—if you ever need help—just let us know, yeah?"

Both Naruto and he nod, accepting the help without anything else, _(allies and friends, of course they will help, the words didn't even need to be said out loud)_. Soon enough, breakfast has been eaten and Shou and Kiku have said goodbye and left in their separate directions. Then, Sasuke and Naruto wave goodbye to Itachi, _(and they are caught between what had been and what is and none of them know how to treat the other, too many past events barring the way),_ who hovers strangely in the kitchen, _(a ghost, wandering endlessly and lost, without a home or a place to return to)_.

"You okay?" Sasuke asks Naruto when the other yawns yet again, too quiet and placid for his normal.

"Yeah," Naruto says, "just a bit tired. Didn't get much good sleep last night." Sasuke hums in acknowledgement and, when Naruto doesn't try to prolong the conversation, allows himself to sink into his own thoughts.

It's been three days since Toru left, _(and yet, Sasuke doesn't quite feel abandoned or betrayed, he's grieving and angry and aching right down to his bones, but this isn't any promise broken nor has his entire life been destroyed and left swinging in a noose—Toru left and it was not nice and it isn't easy to deal with and Sasuke hurts but… it could have been worse)_, and Sasuke almost feels lost in the stirrings of breeze that remain from Toru's departure. Because Toru hadn't been Sasuke's everything. He'd been a large part of Sasuke's heart, been a refuge for safety and a place of peace, but he isn't Sasuke's everything. He can depend on others and he isn't alone and it's not just potential resting in his hands; instead, it's actual power. He can do something.

_(And Sasuke can't help but compare now to then—to after the massacre. He's being treated differently and he's not sure whether it's him or the people he's around or just the entire situation. But there's no pity motivating everyone's actions, no empathy gentling their words. It's almost as if Toru leaving hasn't changed how people interact with him, like they believe Sasuke will survive this and come out alright. Like they believe that he will make things okay again. And maybe it's because he's no longer a boy just wanting to play soldier with only anger and hate and grief fuelling him.)_

_(Maybe it's because he doesn't walk alone. Maybe it's because he doesn't scowl and just train endlessly in a field. Maybe it's because he has friends and teammates and an entire support system. Maybe he's just a different person now.) _

_(Maybe it's because he knows he'll see Toru again.)_

_(Maybe it's because there was no betrayal.)_

* * *

**Day 4**

Temari had initially thought that returning from Konoha wouldn't mean much upheaval. Naturally, there'd be the tightening of their alliance and more wariness in their dealings with Konoha-nin and there was the promotion of someone to Kazekage position—but that was all the change. It was the kind of change that occurred externally and Temari would keep going on.

But, upon returning from Konoha, the world had shifted and warped when Temari hadn't been watching. It had fractured, splintering inwards, and it seemed like nothing was the same as it had been.

It is not that Suna has changed. It is _Gaara_ that had changed. Temari's littlest brother, one kept distant and isolated, something strange that is family yet had been kept separate entirely. Gaara, who caved to the will of a monster, no longer did. Gaara, prone to violence and anger, spoke quietly first and stayed sane throughout. Gaara, who never slept, yet now could.

_(Gaara, who could be Kazekage if he wanted to. He doesn't necessarily need the support of the villagers because he is the most powerful ninja in Suna—that cannot be denied. But Gaara is not aiming for the Kage seat. He's doing smaller things, taking missions, walking the streets, refusing to disappear away from the uneasiness of the villagers but not giving them a reason to lash out. It's a change but Gaara now talks to Temari and her other brother, so she cannot help but love it. Konoha caused many things and this is something that she is thankful for.)_

"Temari?" Baki-sensei calls. Glancing at her reflection in the window, Temari pulls her hitai-ate up onto her forehead rather than letting it rest around her neck, _(she wears it like Kankurō does, like how Gaara now wears it, like how her father never did)_. She exits the house's armoury. Baki-sensei is waiting just beside the doorway, slightly on edge if his quick glance around says anything. He doesn't ask if she's ready or if she's not. In fact, he doesn't say anything. He just smiles softly and starts walking.

Just before they leave their house, Gaara and Kankurō appear on either side, flanking her from a step behind. She forcibly relaxes her shoulders as Gaara walks on her left. "Good luck," he murmurs softly, before dropping back a pace once again.

_(It's a statement—one that all of Suna will understand. Baki-sensei, in front of her, leading her towards the one arena that Suna has. Gaara, on her left, strength incarnate, but following her. Kankurō, on her right, a connection to the puppets and poison mastery groups within Suna. Most importantly, it is their entire family come together for one thing—to support her.)_

_(Temari does not have many supporters outside of her family. It's far too early for her plans to earn support to come into fruition. She thought she had a few years left and Kankurō had had the same. As a result, there's only a few people who currently support her without her having to showcase her strength. Then again, she hadn't planned on Gaara then so perhaps he will make up for their lack of support.)_

_(What Temari isn't aware of is how, before a Kazekage appointment, the Kazekage family has never walked together in one group to show their support. It's a historical moment in Suna's history and it's further proof of Temari's strength.) _

Behind her, Gaara follows Temari into the depths of the arena, down and down and down. When he next leaves the arena, the Kazekage position will have been decided. That said, he's fairly certain Temari will come out on top. There are a few groups who will oppose her, but most will not, _(and he knows his reputation is partially the cause of that because if Temari is seriously injured, then that means he and Kankurō can aid her against anyone who disagrees with her decision to become Kazekage)_.

_(And maybe he hates the reputation he has, the fear and grief and anger that often feels like chains around his limbs, but if it means Temari has a smoother ascent, he can hate it a little less.)_

He now knows that neither Kankurō nor Temari had been ready for such an abrupt change in leadership, yet they had been planning for the position in a few years. He cannot hate them for leaving him out of the conversation. The clarity provided with his new seal means he can understand why they would act in such a way.

Glancing sideways at Kankurō, he decides he's safe enough—and Temari is safe enough—to sink into his mindscape. His vision is dark for a moment, but he feels the slow pulsing of chakra distantly, deep within him. Focussing on it, his vision flares white. There's a sensation that feels like sand gripping around him and tugging him downwards whilst his vision becomes black once again before fading into something else.

When his vision is complete, he's staring out at a desert—nothing but sand stretching until it hits the horizon. Above him, the sky is blue, the sun sits above him yet there's no actual warmth.

Turning around, Gaara lets his gaze rest on the oasis that rests behind him. A mix-match of plants from Konoha and Kaze no Kuni. Inhaling slowly, he reaches out with his chakra, sand following his thoughts. It shifts beneath him and lifts him up into the air, taking him above and beyond the oasis to where sand whirls restlessly around a single point. He lands in front of it.

A sharp exhale, a hand gesture, and the sand dissolves, collapsing to the ground. In front of him, the Ichibi—for once—doesn't rise onto their high legs and try to attack Gaara. It's not been long since Gaara has first tried to start conversing, but the Ichibi had kept fighting and fighting until Gaara had finally proven his power and chained the Ichibi with sand and chakra.

"Hello," Gaara says softly.

In response, the Ichibi throws their head back and howls with laughter. "You managed to devise a manner to keep me contained and all you can say is 'hello'?"

Gaara frowns. "If you had refrained from attacking me, I wouldn't have taken such measures. Are you going to attack me today?"

The Ichibi shakes their head. "No," they say slowly, ducking their head to stare at Gaara better. "It seems rather pointless."

Gaara nods and lets his focus on the sand around him fade, trusting the Ichibi to keep their word. "What should I call you?" He asks bluntly.

The Ichibi tilts their head. "I was Shukaku, a long time ago."

Humming, Gaara considers the Ichibi's—Shukaku's—words. "I don't think names change so easily, Shukaku-san."

_(Shukaku isn't sure whether the kid means names aren't lost to time and left behind or whether just because it was a long time ago, the name will apply anyway.)_

"Perhaps," Shukaku says at last. "Perhaps."

_(This is one of the meetings that Shukaku will remember the most—Gaara, standing in front of him, saying that names are still yours, even when they seem left behind in a time long ago.)_

_(Gaara will remember the dry sand and the imagined warmth curling around his limbs. He will remember chakra, smooth and unruffled and strong, no longer crackling and jagged and painful. Being in his mindscape feels a bit like the desert after the rain has come—undeniably different, but full of hope.)_

* * *

**Day 7**

The invasion had occurred some time ago and although Konoha seems to have rebuilt itself, there are still issues beneath the bark. Kakashi, as a jōnin of some renown, is one of those who has to help sort out everything. And whilst he doesn't have a major hand in politics, he can showcase Konoha's strength through mission after mission.

He doesn't not mind it—has never minded, because he is loyal to Konoha, _(and once upon a time, it had been all he had—but no longer and perhaps it hadn't been all he had had during that time, maybe he had just refused to see what else he had)_; but it does mean he cannot continue working with his team.

Sensing that his team are already in the training ground, he triggers a body flicker and lands in front of them. "Morning," he says, looming over them with a hidden grin.

Naruto yelps, stumbling backwards, which quickly turns into a flip onto his feet. Meanwhile, Sasuke jerks to his feet just in time for Sakura to twist to get up, leading to Sasuke tripping backwards and Sakura spinning and catching his arm and pulling him upward.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto whines, "What was that about?"

"You need to work on your sensing," Kakashi replies. "You should've sensed me coming."

Sasuke rolls his eyes and Sakura says, "Not all of us are sneaky jōnins, Kakashi-sensei."

"Perhaps, but you are chūnins now, correct?" Kakashi says, causing Sakura to grumble beneath her breath. "Speaking of, we have some things to talk about. I probably should've gotten around to this earlier, but there's been quite a bit going on lately. Take a seat."

As they all sit down, Sakura asks, "Does this have to do with all the meetings you've been going on?"

Kakashi pauses and thinks and decides to make this into a small training exercise. "It is," he confirms with a dip of his head. "Anyone want to take a guess as to what they've been about?"

The trio of chūnins pause, exchanging glances. "I'm assuming it has something to do with the invasion?" Sasuke hazards, when Kakashi doesn't speak, he elaborates. "A lot of the obvious issues have been fixed and you're not on any of the councils, so it's probably not a political issue."

"No, it is!" Naruto says, posture straightening with his realisation. "I mean, only technically," he adds, glancing at Sasuke. "But the invasion, the fact it had happened at all, shows that Konoha's information network isn't that good and the change in leadership only downplays are strength. Konoha needs to be seen as strong, right? And you're well known for a ninja, so sending you out on missions is sending a message to everyone else. So, there's probably been some plans around how to do that. Right?"

Kakashi claps. "That's correct, my cute little chūnins! Good work."

_(And the three work together well—not just in battle or on missions, but just in general. Sakura noticed something out of the ordinary, Sasuke considered the political repercussions, and Naruto pulled everything together. One day, they'll be able to do it all alone but they're still young, barely out of the Academy. Still, they are ninjas and that says enough.)_

"I've got a month-long mission coming up soon and I've only just gotten permission to let you know about it since all the details have been finalized and figured out. However, I first wanted to speak with you about what goes on now that you're chūnins. Do any of you have an idea what happens since you're no longer a genin team?"

"Usually a genin team sticks together for a bit," Sasuke says. "But I don't actually know why."

"It's like an introduction into the chūnin field, I think," Sakura says thoughtfully. "Because we're used to one another so there's no more unknown variables and we know how to work together, so it'll be good on missions where we don't fully know what to do because we've never experienced such things before."

"And if we have our jōnin instructor, they can help out, right?"

"That's correct, Naruto," Kakashi confirms. "Technically, I'm no longer your team leader and you're not under my jurisdiction. But what you've said is correct. Genin teams stick together for a bit, along with their jōnin instructor, as an introduction into the chūnin field. However, because of the invasion we're still a bit short-handed so it won't be the same. Not to mention, there's my mission coming up soon which means I won't be around to help you train either."

Sakura glances at her teammates, heart beating strangely in her chest, _(less than one percent of promoted genins remain in their genin teams for over a year; she refuses to leave her teammates)_. "Does this mean we aren't going to be a team anymore?" And her voice wavers and she hates it, but her teammates are a massive part of her life and she doesn't want to lose them, _(and maybe she'd see them occasionally but they'd become distant and she doesn't want that—they're hers)_.

"There's a way to keep a team together," Kakashi says, and although his words don't seem kind, there's a gentleness to his body language that eases something in Sakura, "as long as the team in question works really, really well. Teams of three aren't very common, but there are a few known pairs around—Izumo and Kotetsu, and Genma and Raidō. The former two are chūnins who have a B-rank entry as a pair in the Bingo Book. Genma and Raido are both tokubetsu jōnins with an A-rank entry as a pair. Of course, alone they're also dangerous but they're out of the limelight for the most part nowadays."

"How do we do that?" Naruto asks, pressed shoulder to knee against Sakura and Sasuke. "Because we're going to remain as a team."

Kakashi grins at them, something fierce and wild hidden behind it, _(pack, his mind repeats on loop, pack)_. "You prove it with the missions you go on together and then file the paperwork for it. You might get put on some lone missions, but for group missions, you'll generally be put together.

"Now, onto the second point for today's meeting—training. Since I won't be here, I've been looking for a few teachers. However, Sakura you're still working in the hospital and learning there, correct? Do you want me to find another teacher or are you happy to keep learning there for the most part?"

Sakura smiles. "Learning at the hospital is plenty currently, especially with all the shifts I've got. Besides, I'll be training with the boys so they can teach me anything they learn if necessary. I'm not going to abandon all my training but I've been thinking of shifting my attention to getting a focus in iryō ninjutsu in a few months, so I'll need to really start getting everything down."

"Just don't overwork yourself," Kakashi warns. "But I think you'll do quiet well. Your chakra control is impressive and your chakra reserves are coming along quite well."

Sakura flushes with the praise as Kakashi focusses on Naruto. "Someone who knew of my mission actually spoke to me about your training Naruto. If you don't have anyone specific in mind already, that is."

Shaking his head, Naruto says, "I haven't really thought about it to be honest! Where should I meet them?"

"I'll tell them after we're done here," Kakashi decides. "Sasuke? I considered finding someone to teach you, but you mainly need to learn about the Sharingan since you've activated it. There's only a select few who can help you out there."

Sasuke swallows and leans further into Naruto, grounding himself in the comfort offered without question. "I need to speak to Itachi," he says. "And I can ask him."

Standing, Kakashi ruffles Sasuke's head. "Even if you can't, there's notes around for you that have been sorted out. You can always ask around to see if anyone can make sense of it."

"Thanks," Sasuke replies. Before narrowing his eyes at Kakashi, "When did you say your mission started again?"

Catching onto Sasuke's train of thought, Sakura's eyes narrow. "He didn't say."

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto says, mock-seriously, "your mission wouldn't be about to start, would it?"

Scratching the back of his head, Kakashi laughs and meets the eyes of his team. "I would never be late," he says seriously and then disappears with a body flicker.

Left behind, the three chūnins erupt into laughter. "'Never be late,'" Sakura finger quotes once they've managed to stop chuckling, only to start them off once again.

_(And the ache in Sasuke's heart feels lesser in the face of such laughter. And Naruto thinks he can one day recover. And Sakura knows nothing will be the same but they will, in time, be alright.)_

The laughter trails off when Sakura yawns, having pulled an early morning shift in the hospital. "I might head off," she says. "Might get a nap in before the afternoon hits."

Naruto and Sasuke exchange looks. "Sounds good," Naruto says. "I might roam around and see if I can find who wanted to teach me. Sasuke?"

Sasuke hesitates before saying, "I'm going to ask Itachi if he wants to train me."

Sakura and Naruto almost fall over themselves to hug their third teammate. "We're here if you ever need us," Naruto says and Sasuke snorts.

"More like if you ever need me," he retorts, resulting in Naruto shouting and tripping Sasuke up. They scuffle, only to be pulled apart by Sakura trapping them both in headlocks.

"I'll see you boys at home tonight," she says after releasing them before they all head their own separate ways, _(but they are all heading to the same destination)_.

* * *

Sakura walks home along a path that she's travelled many times before—both alone and with others.

_(And she thinks of home as the place where Sasuke and Naruto and Itachi and Toru live. She doesn't feel drawn to her civilian parents at their house. Because she just wants to nap but her parents would just worry why she's sleeping during the morning.)_

She's not entirely sure what she's going to do over the next few days, since Genma-san is on back to back missions currently and her supervisor in the hospital had told her she probably wouldn't have a shift anytime soon. Apparently, the hospital is being reviewed by Tsunade, _(which is awesome and long overdue)_, in terms of its equipment, procedures, and employees. Sakura's sure that something will come out of it and that the hospital will only improve.

Letting her mind wander away from thoughts on the hospital, Sakura turns her focus to those around her. Although the street isn't a main street, it still has plenty of foot traffic—partially due to its location between two main streets and partially due to the restaurants and food stalls lining its sides. This section is fairly well known as one of the best areas to buy food from.

However, despite the numerous civilians around, what catches Sakura's attention is drawn to two ninjas ahead, near one of the entrances to a small dango shop, only eye-catching due to its swinging wooden sign above the door which has skewers creating an image of a dango.

"Go out with me, Anko-san!" One of the ninjas calls. Sakura narrows her eyes. The speaker is a shinobi who she's heard of through rumours and seen distantly. Toshiaki Kawaguchi is known, mainly by kunoichis, for his constant and repetitive harassment to have various kunoichis date him. Thankfully, he hasn't ever spoken to Sakura—largely because she's so young—and probably because Kakashi-sensei is her sensei. Although, maybe if he had, she could've punched some sense into him and put a stop to all his harassment. It seems like even his demotion to the Genin Corps after three charges of harassment hasn't stopped him.

"Fuck off, Kawaguchi," Anko replies, barely glancing at the man.

"Anko-san, please date me! Your beautiful nature and physique would pair wonderfully with my own! The populations would adore us," Sakura hears Kawaguchi say as she draws closer. By now, she's only a few metres away.

"I said, _fuck off,_" Anko says, both body language and voice threatening.

Kawaguchi obviously glances around, eyes skipping over Sakura as she shifts to be hidden by a passing civilian. "I could help you get back into the good books, Anko-chan. I have friends in high places."

Anko rolls her neck, cracking it. "Can't say I didn't warn him," she mutters lowly, before spinning around and punching Kawaguchi in the sternum. She follows up with a kick between his legs, causing him to hunch over. In that moment, she grabs his collar, lifting him off the ground before throwing him down, slamming a kunai hilt into his temple as a final blow. Then, she dusts off her hands. As Sakura watches, Anko summons a snake and sends it hurrying off somewhere—probably to complain about Kawaguchi, Sakura bets.

And Sakura's mind just freezes. This is it. She just knows it. She's ruined for love. She can never be in love with anything else because that had been amazing. Just avoiding tripping over her feet, Sakura hurries after Anko.

"Anko-san!" She calls, "Excuse me, Anko-san!"

The woman spins around, teeth bared, "What?" She shouts aggressively, leaning into Sakura's space.

Sakura blinks. "Teach me, please!"

This time it's Anko who's left blinking in surprise. "What?" She repeats, this time due to confusion more so than anything else.

"You destroyed that dick, Kawaguchi, with your strength alone!" Sakura says, _(and Anko could have sworn her eyes appeared to be hearts for a second)_. "Please teach me how to be that strong! Statistically, kunoichi are generally physically weaker than men and are primarily sent on honeypot missions—although the percentage has decreased over the past years—and you were so badass just then! I want to be like that."

"I'm not a teacher brat, especially not for little baby genins," Anko says as she ducks into the dango stall. Hardly deterred, Sakura hurriedly follows.

"Firstly, I'm a chūnin. Secondly, you don't have to be a teacher to teach. What's your real reason?" Sakura demands as Anko sits by the counter. Ignoring how much the kunoichi desires to be alone, Sakura takes a seat next to her. "Give me an actual good reason and I'll leave you alone."

"I don't need to explain my reasoning to anyone," Anko says, turning her attention to the waitress. "My usual please—doubled."

"Coming right up, Anko-san!" The waitress says, turning away when Anko levels a glare at Sakura who still hasn't left.

"I'll buy you one set of dango for every hour you train me," Sakura says.

"You're going to have to do better than that," Anko replies, raising an eyebrow.

"_And_," Sakura says, stressing the word, "I'll call you Anko-senpai and pay for today's meal."

"Shit kid, I'm sold," Anko says, waving at the waitress. "Please double what I just ordered, this kid's decided to pay for me!"

"Anko-san," the waitress says disapprovingly, but doesn't say anything else.

"Now kid, if you don't follow up your end of the bargain I'm going to make my displeasure known. It'll make Kawaguchi's problems look like a grain of sand in comparison. Got it?"

"Yes, Anko-senpai!" Sakura says grinning back, _(and Anko can't help but approve of this small, young chūnin who refuses to step back even when it would've been smarter—saner—to do so)_.

"Alright then, let's discuss training."

* * *

Meanwhile, Sasuke follows Takuma who tracks Itachi down. Takuma takes him on a long wandering path that leads away from the Uchiha Clan Compound and to a civilian park. However, Takuma leads him past the playground and deeper into the park, past a small barrier of trees, to a small glade where a ninja-made river runs through. Itachi is sitting on the grass in front of the river, head bowed.

Nevertheless, upon Sasuke's forced entry into the clearing, Itachi raises his head, slowly standing up to turn and face Sasuke. "Hello, Sasuke-kun," Itachi greets softly.

_(And Sasuke thinks of forgiveness, of the hard ball of emotions that rest in his throat and are impossible to swallow around. And he has wanted Itachi back for years now, years and years. But he hadn't truly forgiven Itachi for the actions he had taken. But he also recognises that Itachi had been a kid and lost and struggling in a world devoid of people he could depend on. Maybe Itachi hadn't been in his right mind and maybe there had been other choices, but he'd also been manipulated and shoved and falling onto a path that someone had carefully cleared for him. Sasuke doesn't think he can forgive everything, but he's come to terms with the massacre and the reasons behind it some time ago. And he thinks he can let it go now.)_

_(He hadn't lied when he had said he'd wanted Itachi home. Because he had. Yet this distant and strange relationship between them makes him uneasy because he doesn't know how to reach out easily and draw Itachi closer to him. Hopefully, training will bring them closer together.)_

_(Why does love have to be so hard?)_

"Hey, Itachi-nii," Sasuke replies, deciding to try the honorific out rather than just using Itachi's name as he had been previously. Something in Itachi obviously eases and Sasuke feels the change echo within him. "Kakashi-sensei's going on a month-long mission," he continues, sitting down on the grass with crossed legs. Itachi slowly follows his lead.

"Oh? What are you doing for training then?"

"I'm not sure," Sasuke readily admits. "But I currently need to focus on the Sharingan for the most part. I was wondering if you'd like to help me train it. You mightn't be a good teacher and I won't get things straight away, but you can help me figure stuff out."

"Sasuke," Itachi breathes and his name seems like it's a prayer, _(Sasuke doesn't know how he feels about that)_. "I'd be grateful to."

"Don't," Sasuke says, gentling the sharp word. "Don't be grateful like… like I've given you something. We're family. It's not- I don't owe you anything nor you me. We're just people."

_(He wonders if this felt like kindness to Toru—tangled up words and emotions and the knowledge that things were hard but that you were going to try anyway. The way it trickled through your fingers. The way it was hard. The way you kept trying anyway. He didn't think Toru felt it this way. Toru seems like the person who would be born with kindness engraved into their soul. Sasuke had to find it himself.)_

* * *

He hears a shouted "Naruto!" And spins around to spot Iruka waving at him from across the street.

Darting across the street, Naruto hugs Iruka, beaming at him. "Hiya, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka smiles back, ruffling Naruto's hair. "What are you doing out and about? I thought you had a team meeting this morning."

"We did," Naruto says, not instantly smiling, which makes Iruka glance at him worryingly. "No need to worry, Iruka-sensei!" He says, catching the look. "It was about what happens now that we're chūnins and that Kakashi-sensei is going on a month-long mission so things will be slightly differently."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Naruto says nodding. "Apparently, he'd been looking into teachers for us and someone approached him about teaching me! For no reason! How awesome is that, Iruka-sensei?" Before Iruka can reply, Naruto keeps speaking, words almost slurring together. "Although, the last time someone wanted to teach me it was Jiraiya and he just wanted to 'cause he's my godfather. Like, no thanks! He's never been in my life before an' he certainly doesn't get to rock up now and pretend like everything's fucking perfectly fine."

This time it's Iruka who pulls Naruto into a hug. "He doesn't deserve you," he says, _(even though his mind's already put things together a bit more but he won't touch those thoughts; he hasn't touched them for years because there's probably a very good reason why he shouldn't know)_. "I take it Kakashi-san told you who your teacher is?"

Now, Naruto smiles, conveying amusement to Iruka. "Nah, he ran off because he was late for his mission and said that they'd find me."

Iruka doesn't manage to hide his snort, ending up folding over himself with laughter. "Of course he didn't," he says, eyes bright with laughter.

"Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka crouches down so that he's on eye-level with Naruto, still smiling. "I'm going to help train you, if that's alright?"

Naruto's eyes grow wide and he flings his arms around Iruka's neck. "Of course it's alright Iruka-sensei!"

It's been seven days since Toru left Konoha.

* * *

**The world moves on even when you don't want it to and people start to adjust to Toru's swift departure from Konoha. However, Kakashi being a jōnin is soon sent on a mission, and—of course—he ensures that his team have something to do whilst he's gone. Meanwhile, in Sunagakure, the new Kazekage is soon to be selected. Overall, life goes on.**

* * *

_**Happy new year everyone! (I mean, I'm publishing this slightly before my new year but only because I want to get the last chapter out this decade.**_

_**I will be honest, this chapter got written in just under a week. Actually, everything after Gaara's bit was written today. I got stressed wanting to finish it all today to have it up for you guys... and then I still procrastinated? Like, wow, good job me, that's not how you do things. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy! And I wish all of you an excellent 2020! Here's to hoping things are better than they were in 2019.**_

_**I doubt I'll have much to say for this chapter to be honest. Mainly because there's literally nothing interesting happening for the most part.**_

_**(Shou and Kiku just completely ignore Itachi. They just aren't dealing with it. More on Konoha's reaction regarding Itachi to come later.)**_

_**I cannot tell you how much I wanted to do some world building with Sunagakure. Also, this was meant to be about Gaara but Temari just stole the narration and pretty much kept it. I managed to get a bit of worldbuilding in but not as much as I'd want to. I wanted to work on the puppet and poison information because that'd be so interesting to dive into. I wanted to mention how Gaara and his siblings should have been chunin or higher but were kept as genin so they could go to the next chunin exam and prove Suna's might more than anything else. I want to talk about how these three come together and Suna never expected it, how the Kazekage family has never really been united when one was vying for the Kage position. I wanted to talk about how those against the Kage position were mainly quiet because Gaara stood on Temari's side and stood behind her-listened to her. I'd love to talk about how Temari and Kankuro were planning for this for years but hadn't started many of their plans just yet. I want to talk about how cut-throat and awesome they are and how they knew their father wasn't a good person and had accepted that he wasn't doing the best for his village (or for his family, for Gaara). I want to dissect how Gaara has Konoha plants in his mindscape because Konoha had such a massive impact on him. I want to talk about how I planned to use female pronouns for the Ichibi but never got the chance to because it was from Gaara's perspective and Gaara didn't know (but like... consider the fact that the Ichibi called itself Oka-san). I want to talk about the meanings behind their conversation and how I loved writing 'I was Shukaku, a long time ago.' Also, I did a bit of research and the whole Shukaku and the teapot are based on some actual stories? I mean, it's changed and all that and the priest was called Shukaku but it was cool to read! Wikipedia grabbed me and did not let go.**_

_**Also, I had planned this for a while. Sakura meeting Anko is bound to end in awesome (and ruins for quite a few people). Sasuke tries to repair his relationship with Itachi and tries to be a better person because Toru is a good person and he wants to be like Toru. Meanwhile, I prepare for Iruka to be suitably badass and for you all to be shocked by the surprises in the next chapter. **_

_**Anyway, those are the main things I have to say so I should head off (I do have things I should be doing-which included trying to edit something for a competition, but whatever, I'm gonna wing it, enter it, and continue editing it properly sometime in the future like on Thursday). Have a good evening guys! And also, be careful. **_


	3. Part 1: Impetus

**TigrezzTail Iruka is awesome! And more will be revealed in this chapter. Anko for Sakura is something I'd never seen but I'd been wanting to have Anko enter the story for ages, and it actually stems from wanting to look at how she's treated due to the stigma of having once-been Orochimaru's student. Temari is going to be a badass! She actually already is, but it made no sense for Gaara to be a Kage and Suna needed a Kage ASAP. If you want to know more about my reasoning behind Suna and Temari as Kazekage, just ask for it in the comments because I can go on at length (and have at a few people who've asked, I think). Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Day 11**

Due to Iruka's position as an Academy teacher, he can't train Naruto during the main part of the day—which means that they mainly train in the evening or early morning. Not that Naruto minds because Iruka-sensei is an _awesome_ teacher who doesn't get angry if he doesn't get things straight away and doesn't belittle him or think he's not capable of anything. It's different from the Academy because there's no real structure and Naruto never knows what to expect on the day.

Naruto hadn't exactly known what to expect from Iruka-sensei training him. He certainly hadn't expected to be able to be ready and out the door in two minutes without waking anyone else up, _(although, when thinking about it, he probably wakes up Itachi but considering Itachi had been an S-rank missing-nin, he thinks that he could be doing a lot worse)_, and Iruka's only been teaching him for a few days.

Nevertheless, he still isn't used to the chill that accompanies the night hours of the morning. It's just past four and Iruka isn't there yet—or he is, and he's just hiding from Naruto to surprise him later. Narrowing his eyes, he glances around, eyes striving to spot movement amongst the shadows.

Shivering, he starts his normal warmups, determined to beat back the ice snaking up his back and limbs. It's at times like this he curses his overly large chakra pool and the problematic chakra control that accompanies it. Unlike Sakura and, more recently, Sasuke, he can't quite boost his temperature with his own chakra and have it remain within non-fever parameters. And he doesn't really want to accidentally put himself into fever territory or, even worse, cause a heart attack.

_(If such a thing happened, Sasuke would probably laugh himself to death.)_

"Sorry I'm late," Iruka-sensei says, voice barely a whisper that still manages to abruptly break the silence of the night. Even before he's finished speaking, Naruto's shifted sideways to stand in a defensive position. Iruka glances at his stance and nods. "Good response but you need to make sure you're aware of your surroundings."

"I was," Naruto says, tone leaning towards whining but not quite touching it. "You're very good though, Iruka-sensei. But I couldn't see anything and the darkness certainly doesn't help!"

Iruka smiles, eyes crinkling in the corners. "You know better to rely on just your vision, Naruto," he says. "You've gotten used to your vision being your number one sense when in fact it isn't."

"Toru and Kakashi-sensei have done a bit of blind training," Naruto says slowly. "But it's kind of fallen wayside for the most part."

"It took me a few years of blind training once a week to get really good at it," Iruka admits. "Although, my senses weren't as strong as yours—my eyes have always been my best sense. That said, I work on using chakra to improve my senses whilst doing blind training, which has been helpful on numerous occasions."

"Are you gonna teach me about using chakra to improve my senses?" Naruto asks, perking up. Such things had only been mentioned briefly in the Academy and whilst both Toru and Kakashi-sensei had spoken about them, neither had done so in detail. Once again, Naruto's poor chakra control meant he isn't ready to attempt to channel miniscule amounts of chakra through tiny veins. Both because overloading the chakra veins can lead to healing being required which can be problematic when his healing occurs without his input, and also because overloading your senses can lead to a lash back that—in Sakura's words—is a _bitch_ to deal with. And if Sakura, with her high chakra control, didn't quite manage it straight away, Naruto definitely isn't ready to try.

"We will get there," Iruka promises. "Chakra control is something we can work on while doing numerous other things. It's something you can also work by yourself as well."

"But how, Iruka-sensei? I know how to tree climb, walk on water, and the leaf exercise, of course. And those things—they're almost easy now."

Iruka smiles and there is something kind in it, _(there has always been something kind in Iruka, something gentle, and a small part of Naruto aches because he sees Toru in the gesture, but he also doesn't because they're each their own individual person)_. "Repeating the same exercise often ends up in one perfecting the exercise, even if the reason behind the exercise isn't improved to the level you want it to be at. However, that's why there's numerous different exercises out there. You've reached this point and probably surpassed it, all on your own."

_(And Iruka's voice is far from disapproving. It's proud, and it warms Naruto, fighting back the night's chill.)_

"What it means is that we work on your chakra control another way. Probably one that's a bit more your speed than the others. Fortunately, your chakra control doesn't need to be on par with Sakura's or anything like that. Your body is accustomed to how much chakra you have and so the pathways are a bit bigger, even the tiniest veins."

"What kind of exercises are you talking about? I don't think I've heard of any others for chakra control," Naruto says.

"Probably because there aren't any specifically for chakra control," Iruka admits. "I had to do a bit of digging and thinking and whatnot, but I've got a few ideas. What most people forget is that chakra control is also vital for control over ninjutsu. The smallest flicker of your chakra can change the jutsu or influence it in some way." He speeds through four hand seals, "Water Palm Blade!"

Water coalesces in the palm of Iruka's hand. It becomes a kunai and looks surprisingly solid despite its liquid state. "If you use more chakra, you bring increase the overall mass of the water as well as the size of the blade. Most people, for this jutsu, tend to pause for longer on the tiger hand seal to funnel more earth chakra, strengthening the blade. Those who are more used to wind chakra will lean towards pausing on the bird hand seal, sharpening the blade." Iruka pauses to grin, meeting Naruto's interested gaze, "Those with good chakra control and, most importantly, the ingenuity to think of such things can go beyond such things."

As Naruto watches, the water-kunai separates and forms three individual senbons. Iruka's eyebrows furrow, and then the senbons flow together and form a single shuriken.

"Shape transformation can be manipulated after a ninjutsu has been completed," Iruka explains softly. "It's difficult and takes a lot of work just for a single jutsu, since one has to understand how it works, but it's possible. You can even channel wind chakra or earth chakra into the jutsu now, if you're able to call that chakra forward and mix it with what's currently fuelling the ninjutsu. However, simple chakra control lets you force the water particles closer together and you can almost mimic an ice-state for it." As he explains, Iruka demonstrates.

"That's amazing!" Naruto says grinning. "Does that work for any ninjutsu?" Iruka nods. And, with that, they continue training.

When they break for some food and for a drink, Naruto asks why Iruka had been late to the start of the session.

"I was wondering when you'd finally ask," Iruka says smiling, and Naruto blushes. "I was submitting some confidentiality and consent forms and waiting for their approval."

"At this time of night? What departments are open now?"

Iruka glances up at the sky, a small smile on his face, and Naruto's eyes narrow. "Some ninja departments are never unstaffed."

Pausing to think, Naruto considers the various departments he knows of. The main department that never closes is the hospital—which kind of makes sense in this context—and the other is the mission room, since ninjas can return at any time of night. And then, of course, there are all the guard rotations going on which is mainly run by the wall team. Naruto thinks that ANBU is always running somehow, but he doesn't know how any of it works.

"I got the approval I wanted," Iruka continues, picking up the thread of the conversation once again. "And, as long as you're willing to sign some confidentiality agreements after this, I've got something to tell you."

Naruto hesitates, he wants to know but… "Is it anything bad?"

_(And Iruka remembers that knowledge of secrets stems from the Kyūbi and the Uchiha Clan Massacre and all sorts of things that are harmful with their knowledge, more than anything else.)_

"No," he says quietly, resting a hand on Naruto's shoulder and squeezing slightly. "It's not."

Naruto nods. "Then tell me, please?"

"I'm going to teach you some tricks and tips that people are going to want to know who you learnt from. You can't tell them, understood? I understand that your teammates will know, but you can't tell anyone else. The things I teach you come from various sources and quite a few I've picked up in ANBU."

"You're ANBU?" Naruto breathes, before a quizzical expression crosses his face. "But I thought no one could know who was in it? That's why Toru didn't tell us he was in it."

Iruka hums. "I'm a reserve ANBU, not part of the main forces. I joined shortly before I started work at the Academy. After all, your class contained numerous Clan Heirs who could be valuable hostages. I much rather prefer teaching, which is why I'm a reserve member. We have slightly different rules to those who are active ANBU, such as Toru."

"Did you know he was ANBU?"

"We never met masked, but I did know," Iruka admits. "That's not something we can really hide from one another though, nor is it something we tried to hide from each other."

"Huh," Naruto says, before putting his water bottle down. "This just makes you more of a badass than I realised Iruka-sensei! You've gotta teach me all your ways!"

Iruka's facial expression softens and he places down his own water bottling, smiling at Naruto. "That's what I planned to do," he says. "Let's continue."

* * *

Unlike the Inuzuka Clan, Sasuke hasn't grown up around ninken. Most of his understanding regarding Takuma comes from trial and error. It means that sometimes they miscommunicate and, at others, means a lot of charade work. But, together, Sasuke and Takuma have managed to achieve something almost entirely new.

It's not like the Inuzuka Clan's strange awareness of their own ninken and animalistic instincts that drive them to understand body language, _(and, in time, many of their clan's ninken learn how to communicate verbally to others, not just their partners)_. It comes from living day in, day out with one another and striving to understand where communication tends to fail more often than not.

So, yes, whilst Sasuke can speak to Takuma and Takuma can answer through body language, there's also something under the surface, something far more hidden, that grants them the ability to work together—especially in a fight where there's no time to communicate properly.

It comes down to the one thing that separates Takuma and Takumi from the other dogs the Uchihas technically own—chakra. Most people can learn how to sense chakra signatures relatively nearby, but true sensors are known for their ability to clearly distinguish between chakra levels, when such things are suppressed. What most people don't talk about is how some partnerships or teams are capable of communicating through their chakra signatures—and this is how Sasuke and Takuma mostly speak.

Out of his entire seam, Sasuke has the best chakra sensitivity and it's this that allows him to understand what Takuma's chakra means when it spikes in certain ways.

"Takumi wants to help Itachi," Takuma says, or not-says, but it's how Sasuke manages to understand his ninken.

Sasuke tilts his head and considers his ninken. It's not an inconceivable idea and, in fact, it doesn't surprise him in the slightest, _(and he wonders whether he'd picked it up himself or if it had been something Toru had mentioned in brief)_. Although, it's not terribly hard to pick up that Itachi's eyesight is leaning towards bad more than anything else—not quite blind, not yet at least, _(and one of these days, Sasuke is going to convince his brother to visit the hospital for a check up)_. Naruto's picked up on it as well, asking Sasuke about it before one of their team training sessions.

_(Sasuke's heard of the saying 'the blind leading the blind' from a civilian once upon a time. It's a rather ridiculous idiom since chakra exists and eyesight only limits a person if they let themself be limited by it.) _

Since it's currently morning, Sasuke starts heading towards the apartment where Itachi is likely to be, _(and he's starting to think that Itachi needs a hobby or something because he doesn't seem to have anything to do, almost seems lost in Konoha)_, and there's no training until the afternoon as Sakura has a morning shift in the hospital and Naruto had a training session before dawn.

He makes it just as the skies overhead, which looming for a few hours, finally erupt, pouring water onto those out and about. Cursing, Sasuke scrambles under the shelter of the apartment door before ducking in. Takuma sprints in after him, shaking to get rid of the excess water afterwards, leaving a puddle on the floor.

"You know someone's going to complain about that," Sasuke says, stepping around it and heading up the stairs. Takuma barks and, when Sasuke glances back, places a paw—charged with chakra—above the puddle. It starts glowing with the influx of chakra before the edges begin moving inwards until a ball is formed. Leaping back down the stairs, Sasuke pushes the door open and watches as the ball of water floats out the door before dropping on the ground.

"That was amazing!" Sasuke says, grinning, as he ruffles Takuma's fur. "You're getting good at that."

Joy spreading its wings through his body, Sasuke races Takuma up the stairs, greeting others he spots on the way. They smile at him, uncaring for his antics, as he avoids them.

The door opens just as he gets to it, Itachi behind it. "Morning, Itachi-nii," Sasuke says, pride over Takuma's achievement refusing to leave him.

"You haven't been gone long," Itachi says as Sasuke kicks the door shut behind him. "Weren't you going to train with one of your friends today?"

He shrugs in response. "I met with Hinata-chan for breakfast, but she couldn't stay long since she had something on back home to do."

"Hinata… Hyūga?" Itachi asks as they sit down on the couch.

"Mmhmm. We were discussing various dōjutsu and their applications including the crossover between the Sharingan and the Byakugan," Sasuke explains as Takuma leaps up on the couch beside him. "The main reason we came home early is because Takuma had an idea to help with your blindness."

_(He catches the way Itachi tenses before relaxing, a flinch from someone who cannot afford to show weakness.)_

"The Sharingan has its downfalls," Sasuke says, "it's not shameful or anything. It just is, you know?"

_(And sometimes Sasuke hates how his words falter and fail in his mouth, on his tongue. He's not like Toru who usually manages to say the right thing and he's not like Naruto who strives ahead recklessly without a doubt yet always gets the right words said. And he's not like Sakura who seems to pick up social cues even when nothing is there.) _

"But it's going to get worse if you keep using it," Sasuke continues, forging ahead, _(like Naruto)_. "And, well, Takumi seems to enjoy your company and she's trained—both in terms of Takuma's training and that of the police dogs. She'd help you get around and… well, ninkens are good company."

Itachi gazes at Sasuke and Takuma before dropping his gaze to where Takuma is curled up on the floor next to his feet. "Takumi?" The dog's tail thumps against the floor and, well, Itachi's been a ninja for quite some time now. He knows better than to let his declining eyesight make him weak, _(make him useless)_.

_(Depending on your eyesight can get you killed, Itachi remembers, and he thinks it almost did—or maybe it has killed him and everything now is a hallucination of some kind.)_

Itachi smiles, it is small and slow, _(and it is there and that is something wonderful, something to be celebrated)_. "I think that's a good idea," he agrees, meeting Sasuke's eyes. "Will you teach me how to work with her?"

"Of course," Sasuke agrees.

* * *

Naruto breathes in and out, meditating. Slowly, he removes his focus on his outward senses and reaches for the chakra that seems to rest around his heart. It's warm like a campfire, danger barely-tempered, crackling, and spitting sparks. But it's steady to, solid like the earth, determination. And… it almost feels like safety, in a way that Naruto can't quite describe, _(it comes down to this—for all of his life, Naruto has had few constants and these include the chakra that rests inside him, it's been something he can trust and depend upon even when he didn't know what it was)_.

Between one breathe and another, Naruto feels like he's falling backwards and, when he opens his eyes, he's in his mindscape. It's like when he last left it—greenery and trees, complete with the Kyūbi resting in the middle. The great beast opens their eyes, body rumbling when they spot Naruto.

And, well, Naruto's been visiting the Kyūbi in the past few weeks both to meditate and as a way to get away from everything. The Kyūbi doesn't really seem angry at all anymore. Oh, they growl and snarl and threaten, but it's lacking the harsh edge that it should have, _(and Naruto knows this because he still remembers walking on the streets without Toru and Sasuke and being cornered in alleyways and covering his head and just waiting for it all to be over)_. They almost seem amused, or maybe a little uncertain, about what to make of Naruto.

He's done a bit of thinking in the past few days and he changed his mindscape so it wasn't dark and a prison—but he changed it to things he liked. "Afternoon, Kyūbi-san," Naruto says smiling, not moving from his initial position.

The Kyūbi lifts their head and narrows their eyes. "Why are you here?" The words are voiced like an accusation and maybe they are, but Naruto likes to think that they're not, that the Kyūbi is genuinely interested.

"No major reason," Naruto says. "But I was wondering what _you_ want to see in my mindscape because… because you spend most of your time here and it's not right that I decide you have to be just 'cause I like it."

Naruto felt the entire scene shakes with the Kyūbi's rumbles. Standing, the Kyūbi towers over him. "I am a creature of chakra that has lived before the clans even warred with one another."

He waits, thinking that the Kyūbi is going to say something else, but they don't speak. And, well, Naruto- he thinks. Considers the Kyūbi's words, trying to understand the meaning behind them, not just taking them at face value.

_('I am a creature of chakra' the Kyūbi had said and that sounds like a human saying 'I am flesh and bone and blood'. And it's not wrong—but it's not all. And something in Naruto urges him to say something about how the Kyūbi is more than just a creature of chakra, because that's the truth he knows. But…)_

_(But the Kyūbi says that they've been around for eons and he thinks that they know of their own worth. And, if Naruto was the Kyūbi, he'd enjoy the freedom that came with living for so long—he thinks—exploring every edge of the world to see all the amazing things in it.) _

_(It would be lonely, though, a small part of Naruto admits.) _

Instead, he stubbornly plants his feet into the ground like he's in a fight. "I haven't seen lots of places," he warns, "so I don't know what everything looks like. But I can try to imagine it, if you want. Unless you can, I don't know, show me how it's meant to look?"

_(Freedom, he thinks. Freedom and loneliness. The Kyūbi has had one taken from them and the other enforced. He'd hate that life and he wants to make things better, as much as is possible.) _

Closing his eyes, Naruto just lets his imagination spill; taking hard facts from geography in the Academy like the harsh distant shapes of mountains with clouds curling around the tops and the desert stretching out to the west, a barren wasteland for those who don't know how to survive there. But he takes information from less concrete sources as well, adding them in—like the waves that crashed against the shore and the ocean that is as loving as it is deadly and the secrets hidden beneath its waves stolen out of legends and myths that Toru's whispered time and time again.

The world doesn't shift beneath Naruto's feet but when he opens his eyes, everything's changed. It's exactly like he imagined, which is to be expected but somehow still surprises him. Turning, he fixes his gaze on the Kyūbi. "I hope this is better," he says. "I'm not sure how far anything stretches or if you can reach the other environments but… but it's something. I guess."

The Kyūbi doesn't growl or rumble or really do anything, but they lie down again, meeting Naruto's gaze evenly. There's something strange about the way they're lying, but he isn't quite knowledgeable enough about the Kyūbi to discern what, exactly, it is.

It's time to go, Naruto knows, but before he leaves, a thought strikes him. Pausing, he meets the Kyūbi's eyes. "I don't think I've introduced myself at all," he admits, somewhat ashamed. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

_(And he thinks about the way the Kyūbi is called by a title, about the way they are called a monster, about the way no one seems to expect they are intelligent. He thinks about this and the world starts to shift.)_

"What's yours?"

The Kyūbi's lips curl into a snarl, but there's no sound—instead, they pause as well, considering. "You have yet to earn that," they say in the end. Naruto nods and wonders what the story behind the Kyūbi's name is, before closing his eyes and reaching for outward sensations.

Upon returning to his body, he manages to fall off the tree stump he'd been meditating on. Rubbing his backside ruefully, he checks the sun's position to gauge what time it is. The sun's starting to set, rays more orange than anything else. Almost evening then, Naruto knows, which is good—because that means it's almost time to meet up with his friends for dinner.

It's not a family night or anything. Instead, it's a meeting with the other genins from their Academy year who'd been placed into teams. Naruto takes the rooftops rather than hurrying down the streets and it's partially because he doesn't want to run late but it's also because he doesn't feel like dealing with the stares that always accompany him, _(it's better, though, with people beside him and his friends and family would never let him walk alone, if given the choice—he knows it'll get better eventually, yet he can't help but want it to be now)_.

Despite not having anything on in the afternoon, Naruto is the last one there, sitting at the end of the table to a loud chorus of greetings. He grins back, easy with it. Rubbing his clammy hands against his napkin underneath the table, he can't help but feel nervous, glancing around.

Everyone spots the motion and it's Shikamaru who dips into action, as he tilts his head up to rest against the wall behind him. "How's your dogs been going, Naruto?" He asks, scratching his shoulder absently.

Naruto smiles in response, scratching the back of his neck. "They're doing well," he replies, similarly responding in code that there are no enemies to be worried about. "However," he pauses, considering the best way to frame his words into a code that the others will understand, even if they've never formalized something for such a code, "I've been wondering whether they miss the ninken, you know? They've spend so much time around one another and now it's not really like that."

"They should be alright!" Kiba says loudly, grabbing all the attention around him, just as Akamaru leaps onto the table, barking. "Hey! Akamaru!" Beside him, Hinata groans, dropping her head onto the table and covering her eyes. A moment later, Kiba corrals Akamaru into his arms. "Sorry, Hinata."

"It's alright," Hinata says softly, looking up again, any sign of the Byakugan faded from her appearance. "There was no harm done. Right, Ino?"

"Yeah!" Ino agrees, "Could've been a lot more problematic."

Naruto beams at his friends because without question, they'd jumped to answer his question of whether there were any ninjas nearby. "I have a secret I cannot say," he says, quietening the group almost immediately. "It's my birthday on the tenth in a few days as well."

_(And the words are starting to stick in his throat and what he's said doesn't really make any sense without the context and he's been debating whether to tell them or not for days. In the end it came down to this: they're his friends and they care about him, and some of them are probably putting things together anyway. He'd rather tell them on his own terms.)_

"Oh," Shikamaru says, meeting Naruto's eyes without hiding anything, "is this about your secret birthday party because you were born thirteen years ago?"

"Shika!" Sakura says, glancing between him and Naruto, clearly confused but willing to keep up the act. "That was a secret!"

"He did say it was a secret he couldn't tell," Sasuke says lowly. "Thirteen years ago, huh?"

"Perhaps, since this is a secret, it's time for a topic change," Shino says bluntly, gaze directed at Ino who taps the table four times with two fingers—reveal the truth, Naruto reads in the gesture.

"Indeed," Naruto says, inclining his head to Ino.

"How's your sister doing in the Academy?" Shikamaru asks, directing his question to Hinata. "Has she completed history on the events that unfolded around Konoha's founding?"

_(Naruto is very thankful for his friends and how they make it easier for secrets that can't be said aloud to be revealed. He hadn't thought how he'd say that he's the jinchūriki for the Kyūbi and he probably should have, but it's easy to let his friends help him out. He doesn't know how long Ino and Shikamaru have known the truth, but he's grateful they never let it interfere with their friendship.)_

Hinata answers Shikamaru's question, hesitantly for a moment, and Sasuke leans forward suddenly, clearly having grasped the answer to the conversation going on beneath all their words. "Including the fight with Hashirama and Madara? Wherein Mito seals the Kyūbi?"

There's a heavy pause, full of tension and unsaid words, and Sakura sighs, breaking it. "Mito was such a badass. One of the coolest kunoichis, hands down."

"I don't know, Tōka Senju definitely deserves to be remembered for her feats," Chōji says as he snacks on some of their appetizers.

Hinata rolls her eyes. "You're all forgetting about Godaime-sama who, pretty much single-handedly, reformed and changed the entire hospital system and medical industry." And just like that, the conversation moves on and despite the newly revealed secrets, nothing changes.

_(And Naruto grins to himself and to the world.)_

* * *

**Day 14**

In all honesty, Anko hadn't expected her deal with the genin chūnin to last for more than a few days. After all, she works in Torture and Interrogation as an interrogation specialist and has for years. Moreover, she isn't approached by people—civilians and ninjas alike. There are a select few she calls her friends and who'd call her one in return.

Except, it's been a week since there and Sakura has shown no sign of desiring to go back on their deal nor has she failed to uphold it. There's no reason for Anko to stop training her, but, well, Anko knows her position in the current social situation isn't fantastic, _(it takes her back to years ago and to things that she almost couldn't deal with alone)_. Sakura being seen alongside Anko would only result in rumours and whispers about the chūnin.

Sakura's smart. That much has been clear from pretty much the beginning. She has to be aware of the rumours, even if she is a first-generation ninja. And yet, she meets Anko almost every day for training, taking Anko's words into consideration and trusting them.

Anko doesn't even mind training the chūnin brat. She's quick on her feet and desperately wants to be dangerous and have strength to back up her team. It says a lot that Sakura cares for her team, first and foremost, rather than her own reputation and progress within the Ninja Corps—even though she has mentioned her goal, which is wanting to be known for her medical jutsus; a battlefield medic, Anko has figured, but one near Tsunade's reputation more than the other known battlefield medics. Sakura utilises poisons like she's been training with them for years—which she hasn't been, Anko's even checked—and she reminds Anko of herself, when she was younger, _(before she was given an apprenticeship, before she studied and studied and studied, before she was discarded like a broken tool)_.

"Anko-senpai!"

Sakura's voice has Anko leaning back to look up, past the roof of the fruit stall. On a nearby roof, Sakura grins down, leaf-green skirt fluttering in a small breeze. What really catches Anko's attention, however, are the companions her student keeps, _(and Anko thinks she can call Sakura her student, because she isn't about to abandon the brat until she abandons Anko)_. Beside Sakura, numerous clan heirs wait, joking and talking amongst themselves. It's curious, but it's also telling. Sakura has allies looking out for her, _(and it's starting to make sense why the rumours aren't bothering Sakura in the slightest)_.

"Sakura-chan," Anko greets, "I wasn't expecting to see you until this afternoon."

"We're having a massive lunch," Sakura says, answering the unasked question. "You want to come along? A bunch of our teachers are meeting as well. It's like a jōnin-chūnin-genin lunch gathering that we've brought together. The teachers all complain about us and exchange hints. You can finally meet Genma-san! He's got a few days off the mission rosters."

Anko smiles and lifts her empty grocery bags, "I'm afraid I'm a bit busy, Sakura-chan," she says, _(and she will not explain why she cannot go with Sakura, because the other older ninjas know of her failures, of her ruin; they stay away from her for a variety of reasons)_.

The Nara narrows his eyes, but doesn't say anything as Sakura flips off the roof to land in front of Anko. "You've already missed the best produce in the market," she says, gazing at the fruit stall before turning to face Anko. "Besides, you have to meet Genma-san! He has a poison speciality, just like you!"

Having been a ninja for over a decade, Anko knows ways to prevent future socialisation based off this single encounter—and she has a feeling it's the only way to get out of anything in the future. "Fine," Anko agrees, clearly surprising Sakura, "but if this falls through, I will not attend another one of your social gatherings or whatever. Got it?"

"Fine," Sakura agrees grudgingly. She gestures at the group of the roof, who continue on their path. Meanwhile, Sakura leads Anko through the crowds, clearly having a good idea of how to get to their destination. "We're heading to a restaurant in the Uchiha Clan Compound," Sakura says. "It's civilian owned but it's got privacy seals for ninja-use if one asks and they're prepared to cater to ninja needs."

Anko nods but doesn't speak. She hasn't gone into the Uchiha Clan Compound aside from one or two times when searching for gifts for those in her department. Naturally she's heard of the changes that have gone on, seen the complete reversal in the reputation of the Uchiha Clan and been quietly amazed by it, yet she hasn't been part of the community that the clan compound holds—nor does she really want to join it.

They arrive shortly after Sakura's mixed group of chūnins and genins do, sneaking in to the loud sounds of greeting, remaining unnoticed. Sakura, once again, takes the lead, and Anko follows as she's lead to Genma Shiranui—who she's worked with a few times but haven't spoken to outside of that. With the tokubetsu jōnin is Kurenai Yūhi, Yūgao Uzuki, and Hayate Gekkō. Most of them Anko knows by reputation, rather than having met them personally. Still, she inclines her head in a small greeting.

Genma glances at her before smiling at Sakura. "Hope you're keeping up your exercises," he says in greeting. In return, Sakura beams and nods. "Good on you. Go enjoy yourself with your friends. Anko-san can join us here."

Uneasily, Anko takes the seat opposite Genma and beside Yūgao. However, her anxiety proves to be unfounded, as the group quickly pull her into a conversation that doesn't stray into dangerous territory or goes anywhere near it.

_(Anko has proven, time and time again, that she is loyal to Konoha. However, her apprenticeship to Orochimaru and the consequences of his defection have continuously impacted her life following. There's a rift between her and her fellow ninjas, which she cannot bridge. It's gotten better over the years, with time easing the worst of the betrayal and Anko proving time and time again. Then, just as Anko thinks things are looking up, Orochimaru attacks and Anko is back in everyone's minds—and bad books.)_

_(And yet, here Anko sits, and she doesn't feel attacked or anything. She feels almost comfortable. But she doesn't quite trust it yet. No matter what happens, Anko is strong—and she knows strength doesn't just come from your core or your limbs, but also from somewhere deeper. And Anko has that strength. Whatever happens, she'll stay rooted throughout the storm.)_

_(She doesn't know it yet, but this is where her life will change—all due to a single_ chūnin.)

It's been fourteen days since Toru left.

* * *

**Naruto finally learns of Iruka being a reserve ANBU member. Meanwhile, Sasuke talks to Itachi about using Takumi as a guide dog. Later that day, Naruto manages to reveal to his friends that he is the jinchūriki for the Kyūbi. Despite the surprise, his friends refuse to leave his side and Sakura attempts to teach Anko that she isn't alone.**

* * *

**_Listen, I promised myself I'd finish a chapter this week. It's 9.44pm and I did it! Haven't given it a title or written this note for it, but I finally did it._**

**_I did some fun world building here about chakra exercises. More than anything else, it just makes sense, you know? Like, doing one thing gets you better at that exercise, not always the reason behind the exercise. _**

**_Iruka has been ANBU from the first moment he's appeared in this series. There are hints and behaviours scattered through to back this up as well, even when I hadn't been aware that he would be ANBU. But like, it makes sense. Why would you have a chunin teaching a class of Clan Heirs for the most part? They're very important and if someone attacks them or manages to kidnap one, well, the results would be disasterous I reckon. Feel free to ask about the points where Iruka appears to be in ANBU if you want, I'm willing to go through and find the behaviours and conversations and whatnot. _**

**_I don't have too much to say about Takumi and Itachi. So I'm just going to move on. _**

**_The Kyubi kinda just finds Naruto amusing because he's nothing like they expected. Naruto's something new and different compared to past jinchuriki-and it's difficult to hate someone when they grant you more freedom than you've had in years (it makes me wonder about stockholm syndrome, but I'm not gonna look into that because I don't have the time or the willpower right now to be honest). _**

**_The Rookie Nine are very smart, have their own hidden language, and would do anything for each other. This is not limited to murder or revealing S-ranked secrets. _**

**_The main reason I chose Anko to be Sakura's teacher was because Anko had to have been isolated after Orochimaru's betrayal and I wanted to play with that a bit. It's not very clear here nor am I very happy with it but like... whatever. That's what I get when it's after 9pm and I'm trying to write things. _**

**_I think that's all I really want to say (which is good because I have like five minutes before I need to get going to work). So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll post again in a month's time! _**


	4. Part 1: Coterie

**Day 15**

Koharu has seen the rise of legends and the fall of those who inspired them. She has lived through the end of the Clan War era, the construction of the hidden villages, Madara Uchiha's defection, and the succession of the Nidaime; Sandaime; Yondaime; and Godaime. She might not remember it all perfectly but she has been there for it all. She remembers the death of the Nidaime, Sakumo's rise to fame and his subsequent suicide, and so the list goes.

But, she has to admit, she's never seen the fall of a legend quite like this—occurring after the man who inspired it all is dead and has been for a few years. It's almost like a second death and Koharu is spiteful and hateful enough to enjoy it.

_(And if she regrets the events that led up to it all, regrets her hand in it, that is for her and her alone to know. After all, she is very much aware that being a bystander is not a neutral position in the slightest.)_

The Sandaime Hokage has been an amazing Hokage yet he had been a child of the war, a child of blood and fear and hatred. He'd looked first to his military might and whilst Koharu is the same and cannot begrudge Hiruzen for it, she has to regret the blindness that led to the Uchiha Clan's demise.

Most of all, she regrets the trust that'd been placed in Danzō and the way Hiruzen had dealt with the betrayal that came, _(their backs hadn't been turned, they had seen what was coming, and they hadn't tried to avoid it)_.

Konoha's Godaime Hokage has no friendships to hide behind, nothing to defend but her own disappearance from Konoha for years—and she has returned to help them, so even that is starting to be excused both by civilians and ninjas. And so, with the return of Itachi Uchiha, former S-ranked nuke-nin, Tsunade has told the truth behind the Uchiha Clan massacre, detailing the facts in broad daylight and dragging it out of the shadows.

Surprisingly, the response by the general public has been positive, for the most part. Itachi isn't ostracized and it probably helps that he sticks to himself. Mostly, it seems like the general outrage and hatred for Itachi has been eclipsed by disapproval for the Sandaime and his actions—or lack thereof—in the events.

_(And this, Koharu thinks, is how one can die twice. And it is very much fitting that it is Danzō's reputation that is left tattered, no longer a war hero but a traitor assassinated by the village he claimed to protect.)_

* * *

Sasuke folds his legs up underneath him, waiting quietly as Naruto activates the privacy seals in the apartment. Itachi is out and about with Takumi, probably in the Uchiha Clan Compound where he has taken to spending his time, _(and Sasuke thinks it's because he doesn't quite know what to with himself, left without something to hold onto now that the guilt for the massacre has been taken from his shoulders; Konoha may accept Itachi but Itachi cannot accept that fact—and Sasuke thinks about recoveries and how long they take and thinks that maybe this has been coming for some time)_. Meanwhile, Sasuke's team, _(and they are a team, barely out of the Genin Corp, and fresh-faced chūnins, but they are a team and will always be a team)_, gather in their lounge room.

"Okay Sasuke," Naruto says as he sits down, shooting an unsure glance at Sakura. "The seals are up."

Sasuke breathes in, holds it, lets it out. "You heard Hokage-sama's announcement, right?" He asks, rhetorically more than anything, although Naruto still nods in response. "Then you know that the Uchiha Clan massacre was ordered by Danzō. I'd known this for a few years now—me and Toru both."

Sakura makes a sudden noise of understanding, causing Sasuke to lapse into silence. "Sorry," she says with an apologetic expression, "but it now makes sense why you didn't really react to the announcement. It makes sense that you'd known—but how?"

Smiling, Sasuke meets his teammates' gazes. "There's a reason why Danzō is dead," he says, _(and something in him is vindictively pleased that Danzō met his end by someone he had meant to kill—because he knows Toru is responsible, knows that Toru took part in that battle, even if Toru couldn't say that much about it)_, "and that reason is Toru."

Sakura's mouth drops open and Naruto says, "No fucking way," which results in Sasuke instinctively throwing the nearest item—a book on finance and accounting that Itachi is somehow reading—because Naruto is a ninja and it's what Toru's trained them to do to stop each other from swearing.

Naturally, Naruto catches the book with a yelp and there's a moment where he scrambles to return fire with a pillow. Ultimately, the small fight ends with Sakura plucking a pillow and a drink bottle from the air and glaring them down.

"When we were ten," Sasuke eventually continues, "or thereabouts, Toru was almost killed on a mission—I think his mission partner actually came back claiming that Toru was dead. Do you remember, Naruto?"

Slowly, Naruto nods. "I… think so. His summons came to us and we smuggled him into the Hokage's office, didn't we?"

"Yeah. Apparently, before that, he'd done some of his own surveillance and infiltration to get files from an organisation he learnt to be ROOT led by Danzō. He brought the folders to the Sandaime—one containing the truth behind the Uchiha Clan massacre. Following this, there was an attack on the main ROOT base during which Danzō was killed and many of the ROOT members entered the Ninja Corps as themselves."

Sasuke swallows, pausing, "And since then Toru and I've been working on getting Itachi back to Konoha and Konoha welcoming him back."

A second stretches into a minute, and then Sakura and Naruto are wrapping their arms around Sasuke in silent comfort, _(and it's everything he didn't realise he needed)_. Without saying a word, Sasuke hugs them back.

_(He wishes Toru was there to see this, to see their plans come to fruition, and something deep within him continues to ache.)_

* * *

**Day 16**

Like most hidden villages, Konoha has two main hospitals: the General Hospital For Civilians and the General Hospital For Ninjas. The former is often called Civie-Hospital by ninjas and the latter is called General Hospital by ninjas. Interestingly enough, both hospitals are contained within the same grounds—with the Civie-Hospital taking up barely a quarter of the grounds.

For fairly obvious reasons, the civilians generally stick to the Civie-Hospital likewise with their patients. Of course, there are a few medics who manage to raise to a station in the General Hospital through sheer stubbornness and calmness that enabled them to deal with ninjas who are often unhappy with their situations and want such things to be known. Overall, it means that—for the most part—the two hospitals exist as separate entities, buildings and organisations and grounds joined together for convenience more than anything else.

Hikari Kuruma has been working in the hospital grounds for over half her life—twenty-four years, to be exact. When she had been quite young, Tsunade had been changing the medical field both in and outside of the hospital. It must be acknowledged, however, that much of Tsunade's advancements in the field were for the use of chakra—ninja focussed advancements, more than anything else.

And, well, Hikaru wouldn't say she hates Tsunade-sama, but she dislikes her—resents her, maybe. After all, the kunoichi who's now their Godaime should have never abandoned her village—abandoned the hospital that has needed her desperately throughout the years.

_(Hikaru swore an oath, when she became a fully certified medic-nin, to heal all patients before her and prevent diseases wherever such things are possible and to keep details confidential as is required. To ask for help, where such things are needed, and always give her all.) _

_(Tsunade broke that oath upon leaving patients behind, not helping where she could, not reaching out for help, not preventing diseases. And Hikaru understands trauma, understands needing a break and needing to stop, but Tsunade didn't stop—she left, without word and without warning. No one was prepared for it, there were surgeries to change and treatments to learn about and patients to care for. Tsunade left without warning and the hospitals suffered for it. That is not something Hikaru will forgive easily.)_

_(But it says something that Tsunade has returned and turned her gaze to the hospitals and their programs. Hikaru may not forgive, but such things may occur in the future.)_

"Itachi Uchiha?" Hikaru calls out into the relative quietness of the hospital waiting room. It's a room that Hikaru often enters. She primarily helps in speciality cases, identifying the issues and figuring out treatments. It's hard work that's not as rewarding as most careers, but she loves it regardless, loves helping, loves healing.

Hikaru has heard rumours of Itachi Uchiha, has seen his victims many years ago both those left alive and those left behind. But, more importantly, she has heard the more recent rumours and the Hokage's own announcement that nullifies the Uchiha's own accountability.

The Uchiha she sees now isn't quite what she imagined. He's leaner than he probably should be and looks far too old to be in his teens, which is what his file states. His skin is overly pale, too pale even for an Uchiha. Still, it is not in Hikaru's nature to gossip and wonder about things beyond her scope. The Uchiha has head a check-up since his return to the village and now he's in for health concerns—blindness, due to Sharingan overuse, and various symptoms including coughing up blood, muscle inflammation, and joint inflammation. Of course, there are bound to be symptoms that the Uchiha isn't mentioning which isn't unexpected considering ninjas and all.

"Uchiha-san, in here please," Hikaru says, entering the room first. "Would you mind shutting the door behind you?"

The Uchiha does so without a word, sitting quietly on the seat with his hands together in his lap. It's almost as if he is projecting an image where he isn't deadly and, Hikaru realises, it's exactly what the Uchiha is doing.

"Due to the symptoms you mentioned in your check-up along with the issues picked up by the medic-nin who attended to you, we have some specialists who are going to see if they can cure the illness or, at the very least, reduce the pain you're currently feeling. As always, all information is confidential and only your doctors and yourself will know about it. Are you amiable to all this? If you refuse treatment and check-ups, please be aware that it will then be harder to treat in the future."

The Uchiha meets her gaze and one hand falls from his lap and rests on the ninken's head next to him. He dips his head. "I understand. What do you need me to do?"

"I'm just going to run a general diagnostic," Hikaru explains, slowly moving between the few hand seals needed for the iryō ninjutsu. Hands glowing a gentle green, she runs her hands over the Uchiha's limbs, chest, and head, frowning with what she finds. The Uchiha has a lot of general pain and problems—but the jutsu isn't pinpointing the exact causes, which means that they're no general injury. Hikaru expected that, but she'd still hoped that it was something better.

Running through another set of hand seals, Hikaru warns the Uchiha, "I'm going to run another diagnostic, but it's more specialised than the previous one. I'll run a third after to look at something else."

Hikaru rests her hand on the Uchiha's chest, above his lungs. She can hear his heart, measured in deep pulses, and his breathing which rasps when it shouldn't and is much shorter than it should. The Uchiha has been an active ninja for just over a decade now, his heart rate should be slower than it is and his breathing should be deeper. But, more importantly, is the sensation she's receiving from the Uchiha's veins. Her experience allows her to understand this sensation as meaning that his blood veins are inflamed which is… worrying, to say the least.

"How long have you been having symptoms?" Hikaru asks as she releases the second diagnostic and mentally begins to go through her knowledge of inflamed blood veins.

"Years," the Uchiha replies which isn't quite the answer Hikaru wants—something a bit more definitive, but she can work with it. It means that this isn't due to some infection.

"Have you had any new drugs recently?"

"No."

Hikaru hums. Blood tests had been taken, as is the standard procedure for ninjas who've been out of Konoha for a while or haven't had a check-up any time recently, but the results hadn't confirmed anything by itself—which means it's not a blood cancer. "Can you tell me the other symptoms you've experienced?" She meets the Uchiha's gaze firmly, even though she has a feeling he isn't quite seeing her. "All of them."

"Coughing up blood, shortness of breath, an inability to keep weight sufficiently, chest pain, fatigue, malaise, and myalgia," the Uchiha lists, dropping her gaze first. Hikaru writes the list down on the file she has nearby. The medic-nin who did the check-up noted kidney damage, lung problems, and eye problems.

"This will be the last diagnostic," Hikaru says as she activates the jutsu. She places her hands on the Uchiha's temples and focusses. And the results she gets are far from good. The Uchiha is almost blind, both due to breakdown of the optical nerve which seems to have been caused by chakra pathways scarring of some sort. The exact reason, Hikaru guesses, is due to sudden and frequent overloads of chakra in the optical pathways—the Sharingan, or some form of it. But there are other issues as well, such as retinal haemorrhage.

And, well, Hikaru isn't a legend or any such thing. She is human and her memory cannot hold everything, but the symptoms are adding up to something she has read about. Not any time recently, but a case she had helped in when she was serving as an intern. "Do you mind if I call some of my colleagues to take a look?" Hikaru asks. "Naturally, everything will remain confidential, but I need a second opinion."

The Uchiha nods.

Hikaru quickly steps outside of the hospital room and hurries to her office, where her current intern is waiting for the appointment to be over. "Nao-kun," she calls, "fetch Hokage-sama where she's currently overseeing emergency procedures for a check-up of an autoimmune disease and potential eye blindness caused by chakra pathway scarring."

Eyes wide, Nao says, "Of course, Hikaru-sensei! Bring Hokage-sama to your appointment room?"

"Yes," Hikaru decides. "And then run a genetic test for Itachi Uchiha and ask Sasuke Uchiha's doctor—Daisuke, I believe—to run one as well. Give me the results and don't read them."

Nao bows. "Confidentiality is a key aspect of a career in iryō ninjutsu," he chants quickly, before heading off. Meanwhile, Hikaru opens up one of her massive medical texts that focussed on autoimmune diseases. Flicking through the pages, she pauses upon reaching microscopic polyangiitis. The symptoms match with Itachi's own symptoms, _(and this is not the end, Hikaru knows, not the end of Itachi's life but she worries about his eyesight)_.

_(And Hikaru may not like Tsunade, but she will always ask for help when she's out of her league. That's enough, right now. Tsunade may have abandoned them and left them scrambling, but she's here now and trying to be better, to be more, to help. It might not make up for it all right away, but it will in time. After the massive review that Tsunade's done of the hospital, Hikaru's got hope now.)_

By the time Hikaru is reaching the outside of the appointment room, Tsunade's reaching the door as well, Nao following nervously behind. Meeting her gaze, Nao nods and ducks off to complete the genetic test that Hikaru had ordered.

"I need your assistance to see whether Uchiha-san's eyes can be completely healed. I suspect he has MPA, but I need confirmation that I'm correct more than anything else," Hikaru explains to Tsunade. And, well, Hikaru could call on a few of her other colleagues—Tsubasa Hyūga to look at Uchiha's eyes and Makoto Nara for the MPA diagnostic. However, the blindness is caused by both the Sharingan and MPA, the former which no one is trained to deal with anymore ever since the demise of the Uchiha medic-nins and kekkei genkais are very rarely discussed with those outside of one's clan. Additionally, the treatment for MPA is something only a few medic-nins can handle and Uchiha deserves kindness, _(and there is a time limit, ticking in the background, because the survival rate beyond five years for MPA is rather low)_.

"Very well," Tsunade says, sweeping into the room. "Itachi-san, I'm here to double-check Hikaru-san's diagnosis and your eyes. Are you willing to submit to this?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Itachi says quietly, and nothing about his behaviour gives anything away. He seems to accept it all without complaint.

Tsunade frowns as she works, which doesn't assuage Hikaru's feelings at all. In the end, Tsunade sighs as she pulls back to look Itachi in the eye. "As I'm sure you're aware, you're going blind. Unfortunately, I cannot reverse the damage you've done to yourself and the damage that the disease has done, since the injury is so severe and delicate." She pauses, but Itachi doesn't speak. "As you might have deduced yourself, you do have a disease. It's called microscopic polyangiitis—known as MPA. The good news is that we should be able to reverse the damage caused by the disease, most of it at least, and prevent future problems caused by the disease. However, the treatment will probably span a few months and you cannot continue with your ninja career as trauma can cause the disease to reappear."

Itachi bows his head. "I understand," he murmurs lowly, _(and the way he takes the bad news and the good news, how he does it without flinching, is so ninja-like that it makes Hikaru want to mourn; feelings are not weaknesses nor should they have to be hidden away, and yet…)_.

_(And later, when Hikaru and Tsunade have finished speaking about treatment plans with Itachi, they will retreat to the former's office. Hikaru will look at the results of the genetic test and consider how much of the Uchiha interbreeding is the cause of Itachi's disease. She will wonder how no one noticed the interbreeding and wonder if, in a world where the massacre did not occur, the Uchiha would die anyway due to the weakness in their genes.)_

_(But such thoughts are awful things to dwell on and Hikaru will turn her attention to the future and how she can keep helping—things that are much more important and much more worthy of her time.)_

* * *

**Day 18**

It is Naruto's birthday and Sakura feels like crying. It's the truth, although the two things have no correlation with one another. They're just facts, disjointed in Sakura's thoughts. Singular thoughts circling in her head, unavoidable. It's Naruto's birthday and she's seconds away from crying and nothing's getting better.

_(She thought it would get better. With time. With experience. She had thought she could live like this—thought she could give and give, could bite her tongue and hold her words back. But she had been wrong. It hasn't gotten better and she hasn't gotten used to it. She's just grown more aware of how she hates being home with her parents, how she wants to raise her voice and fight back. She's a child in their eyes. In her own eyes, she's a ninja and she will fight, can fight. She won't give up. It's not an option now and maybe it never has been.)_

Sakura thinks these things and feels the way her weight rests in the ball of her feet, the way her heart thuds in her chest, the way her adrenaline rages.

_(When they were younger, Ino told her about potted plants and how plants can outgrow the pots they start in. She feels a bit like that now—looking at the fading walls, the cracked roof, the small plant in the corner. These things used to be her whole world and now they're not. Now they're not even something she notices.) _

In two minutes, Sakura could be ready for a mission. At any second, she could technically be called onto a mission—although such things are unlikely for newly promoted chūnins.

The thing is that Sakura can be ready to leave her house for a few weeks at a time in seconds and yet she can't quite pack up everything to leave for the rest of her life, _(and she's thought about it, rarely, in the back of her mind, but she's still thought about it)._ It's not really that she can't pack everything away—because she can do that. Nowadays, she only really has her ninja gear, a few civie outfits, and some little knickknacks. She doesn't need to take her pastel pink walls or the cherry blossom sticker on her window. She'd take her old snow globe and the pictures in her room though, but leave behind the painting of the sunset above the trees that her parents had bought her many years ago. Naturally, she'd bring all her books—both fiction and non-fiction, civilian and ninja.

_Oh,_ Sakura thinks faintly, awareness drawn back into her current situation, _kaa-san's still shouting._

It's strange. She feels slightly distant from her body, as if she's looking back on a memory as opposed to living it. There's nothing more left for her to give. Absently, she notes that she no longer wants to cry.

"Okay," Sakura says quietly, beneath her mother's rising volume. Her mum takes no notice though, and it makes her uneasy because no ninja worth their chakra would ignore the sound of something _quiet-soft-deadly-dangerous_. "Okay," Sakura repeats, louder this time, and her mum finally stops. "I'm going to move out since I'm a ninja now and you're not seeing that, nor is tou-san. So, I'm going to go. If you want to talk to me, you have to see me and understand me first. I'm not someone you get to boss around. This is _my_ life and I get to live it."

Sakura's kaa-san is apparently too shocked to say anything so Sakura nods to herself, turns on her heel, and heads to her room. She's got enough storage scroll to quickly store all of her belongings. She puts all her books and notetaking material in one scroll, clothes—ninja and otherwise—in another, a third scroll for ninja weapons and so forth, and a fourth scroll for miscellaneous items. Look around, she gets the feeling that she won't miss it. She's grown up here, yes, but she's grown out of it all too, _(like a plant outgrowing its pot)_.

Leaping out the window, she heads towards her teammates' home, _(and they understand her, understand how she thinks, because they think like her too—unlike her parents)_.

_(And she's lucky to have a family, Sakura knows this, but her family isn't accepting her and… Well, she's already got another family waiting for her with open arms. It won't be the same and maybe she'll miss her parents, but it'll be better in all the ways that matter.)_

She reaches their home fairly quickly. In all honesty, she's travelled the path to their home so often she could probably do it in her sleep—she's done it almost asleep before, but that might not count. Upon reaching the door, she lets herself in. Once upon a time, she would knock and wait for someone to answer, but nowadays she just lets herself in. No one seems to care—not Sasuke or Naruto or Itachi, even though they would have a right to considering the number of times she invades their personal space. Today though... today might change that.

It's not like Sakura expects them to say no to her. They're her teammates and they'll do anything for her, she's sure of it, but some part of her still worries that they'll deny her request to stay with them, _(whether it's for a few nights or for an unforeseen amount of time in the future remains to be seen)._

All of the occupants of the household appear to be up, although Itachi appears to be leaving with Takumi by his side as Sakura arrives. "Morning," Sakura says, nodding at Itachi.

"Good morning, Sakura-san," Itachi replies in that careful way he does, _(Sakura's not sure what to make of it, because it's not really obvious, but it's like a habit that has been part of Itachi since almost birth; as if he has to think about what he says before he speaks and maybe it's to appear less dangerous; more often than not, Sakura just thinks it's sad)._ "Will you be here for dinner?"

Glancing at her teammates, Sakura smiles. "If you'll have me," she agrees.

"Any teammate is welcome," Itachi says_, (and this time there's something fierce, something obviously dangerous in his tone, and Sakura's grateful for it—it shows Itachi cares and it shows what he cares for). _

_(Teammates, after all, is the main language Konoha ninjas speak in.)_

(Teammates, after all, is the main language Konoha ninjas speak in.)

Turning her attention away from Itachi, who then leaves, Sakura leaps at Naruto, slamming into him and wrapping her arms around him. "Happy birthday!" She says cheerfully, reaching out to tug Sasuke sideways into the hug. "How does it feel to be a year older?"

Naruto shrugs, even as he grins. "Nothing really feels that different to be honest. But I think that's how it goes for every birthday, don't you?"

Pausing to think about it, Sakura has to nod. "Yeah, I'd say so."

There's a moment of silence before Sasuke breaks it, narrowing his eyes at Sakura as he does so. "Are you alright?"

_(Sakura hadn't forgotten about leaving her house, leaving her parents, behind, but it had been pushed to the back of her head—not on purpose or to suppress the resulting emotions, but because Naruto's birthday is much more important.) _

"Not quite but, at the same time, yes," Sakura says, smiling in amusement at the confusion clear on Naruto's face. "I left my house today. Just packed up and left. It'd been getting... irritating, to deal with my parents because they're civilians and they don't quite get us."

This time it's Naruto who pulls Sakura closer, and Sasuke leans his weight more firmly into the pair, a show of comfort and support. "You've always got a home with us," Naruto promises. "You've mentioned once or twice that things weren't great, but have they always been this bad?"

Pulling back, Sakura's smile takes a slightly twisted appearance. "It's never been fantastic ever since we graduated," she admits, "but I did try to hide it, I will be honest. It was my blood family and, well..."

"It was more than what we had," Sasuke continues, easily following Sakura's line of thought. "Surely, though, you know that blood-family doesn't necessarily have to be the only kind of family you have nor is it the right one."

Staring at her teammates, at her brothers, at her friends, Sakura smiles because this is her family gazing right back at her. "Yeah," she says, "I know."

* * *

**Day 19**

Sasuke finally breaches the topic of the Sharingan on one of the days Naruto classifies as a 'sibling day'—a day when Sasuke and Itachi spend a few hours together not for the sole purpose of training, _(Sasuke would tell Naruto that there's no point calling it a sibling day since Sasuke spends days and days with his siblings which includes Naruto and Sakura and Itachi, but he has a feeling that would probably make Naruto into a blubbering pile of emotions because sometimes Naruto forgets that he deserves all the kindness in the world, thus causing Sasuke to want to burn the world except he can't even do that because his family cares for Konoha)_.

Itachi sits down cross-legged in the isolated training ground, Takumi plastered firmly to his side. Following his lead, Sasuke waits for Itachi to respond aloud.

"What do you want to know?" Itachi asks, eyes watching Sasuke, _(and he wonders how blind Itachi is, how much he can really see)_.

"What happened during the massacre?" Sasuke decides at last. "You didn't have the Mangekyō Sharingan and then you did and that- that doesn't just come from nowhere. Toru and I found information on it. Well, Toru did, but he shared it with me. It said that the Mangekyō Sharingan was activated by witnessing the death of someone close to you and that your guilt activated it. But- But you said that I would have to kill my closest friend to have eyes like yours. _Why_?"

Itachi breathes in, breathes out. There's no easy answer—no right answer, certainly. What he had done then—that hadn't been right either, but it had been his orders. He's starting to understand he should've done something else, tried to do more, _(but Shisui had died and his support system was gone and Danzō was on his heels and he was Sasuke's only hope and family-the Uchiha will do anything for family or they had, once upon a time)_. "The ultimate test," he says at last, "and one I had hoped you would fail. If you couldn't turn against your friend, you wouldn't turn against the village. But if you did; if you could, then I'd failed at what I'd set out to do. Failed more than I thought I could have. It was also because you would've gone looking for information and you couldn't know- couldn't let Danzō know."

Itachi falls quiet, not sure if his explanation—attempted explanation—made sense. Looking back on it, he can't quite explain his choices, can't quite picture the frame of mind he'd been in at the time, _(he's healed, somewhat, from Shisui's suicide and sudden death, from the betrayal that Shisui hadn't meant but had committed anyway, from the Uchiha Clan's turn on the village, and the village's treachery regarding the Uchiha Clan)_.

"I'm not going to get the Mangekyō Sharingan," Sasuke says at last, not quite responding to Itachi's explanation. "Not only does it ruin your eyes and lead to blindness, but the cause of it—I'm not going to let that happen. I'm _never_ going to let that happen. Not so long as I live."

_(You cannot stop death, Itachi wants to say, it will trail in your footsteps—that's not a choice you get to make. But those words are for children and, well, Itachi hadn't seen this conversation coming, but Sasuke is an adult now—he recognises that now. They're both adults, even at their young ages, because they're ninjas first and foremost.)_

_(And neither of them can know this, although Sasuke would certainly guess it, that Toru would disagree with them, would say that they are children and ninjas and can be both. But he doesn't say that because he isn't there.)_

It's been nineteen days since Toru left Konoha.

* * *

**Danzō's reputation is dragged through the dirt and mud and everything else as Tsunade ruins him, much to Koharu's delight. Meanwhile, many ninjas undergo new testing as a result of the hospital's updated standards by the Godaime Hokage—including Itachi, and treatment plans are decided. Everyone's lives continue onward, including Sakura's as she turns away from her blood-family to rely on her found family just in time to celebrate Naruto's birthday. And, lastly, Itachi and Sasuke have a conversation that's been coming for quite some time.**

* * *

_**After some thinking (mainly on how much I want to write Toru and how much I'm sure you guys just want to read his adventures) and much deliberation (I tossed a coin and got tails), I've decided to ignore some fillers (including the Land of Spring/Snow and so forth) because I'm not sure what to write about them and like... Toru. I want to write Toru and we all want to hear his story, which is much more interesting because it doesn't really follow a path similar to one already written (aka canon). The only downside is that it might end up being quite a bit shorter than expected (Konoha's plot line, that is, since it decreases my plot line word count by like a thousand words and I reckon I could probably follow the rest of the events in like maybe three or four chapters? **_

_**Listen, I'm sure you know about my love of badass Koharu, but you get to see her again. Largely because she forced her way into a chapter that wouldn't write and stayed there. Plus, her disgust of Danzo is wonderful and definitely needed.**_

_**My writing of most characters might be a bit iffy currently, since I'm getting back into writing this after it wouldn't write (I've started blocking my own access to websites and using writing websites that use your word count to fight things! and you lose health when you don't write and it's fabulous because there's also a pause button so I don't need to panic). **_

_**ANYWAY, please appreciate Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto's interactions because they are wonderful and I adore the little terrors. **_

_**Hikaru Kuruma is cool and I love her. She is very much awesome and loves to help people and has a lot of issues with Tsunade, but cares little for them if they get in her way of healing somewhere. Itachi, at last, finally gets the medical treatment that he requires (although, his blindness will stay - but he thinks he deserves that much at the very least). I also want you to know I think it took me ten minutes of googling to find the word accountability because I just couldn't think of the word. It was a lot of effort since the only thing I knew was the words I have didn't fit and it wasn't motivation but it was close. So yeah, that took time but I got that word! It was captured successfully. **_

_**Sakura is awesome and deserves all the love and this was a carry-cross from Tideswept where the issues were hinted at and then not looked at in further detail. I got to focus on found family so much and it was divine. My favourite trope I reckon. **_

_**God, the saddest line in this was Toru 'doesn't say that because he isn't there'. I loved reading it in my notes, although it wasn't put that way exactly - it was a bit more joined to the previous paragraph, but I couldn't have that in the actual writing itself but whatever. **_

_**Can you believe it's been 19 days since Toru left Konoha? Man that village is having all the things happen to it. **_


	5. Part 1: Searching

_**Review Responses:**_

_ ryyaikki I hope this chapter meets your expectations!_

_ TigrezzTail I don't really have a response for you, just thank you for all your reviews. Whether I reply to them or not, I do see them and it always improves my day._

_ Night I'm so honoured by your review! Thank you so much. I'm so glad you've enjoyed this series! Waiting for updates can be a pain, but I can promise you that I have a schedule that will always remain there. Honestly, I'm expecting that for this series there will always be updates once a month, minimum. If I manage to keep up how quickly I'm writing, it might move up to updates twice a month. In regards to Toru's precious people learning he's a reincarnated Kage... It's going to be a lot of fun. Or maybe it'll just be fun because he ends up back in Konoha and no one even knows why he left really, aside from the messages he left behind. As to everything else... Well, I'm just getting to let you imagine whatever may happen for now. I do have a finished plot though and I'll admit I'm happy with how it ends (fingers crossed I manage to write it so that I'm satisfied with it). Anyway, thank you so much for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter (and if you're over on AO3, I can be found there as well and they have a cooler version because I get strikethroughs to work over there whilst it doesn't work over here and I much prefer their tagging system and commenting and whatnot)._

_As for everyone else, I can confirm Sasuke's part spans up to and includes chapter 12, but after that... Well, we hit Toru. It's what I'm currently writing, actually. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

**Day 24**

Kakashi returns to Konoha, dusty and worn, but surprisingly early. The gate guards are even surprised to see him back, almost a week and a half before his expected return date. And, well, Kakashi hadn't expected to be back so early, not with how many of his missions over the past year have gone_, (the mission with Tazuna, for instance, had been a disaster and had gone over the scheduled time period, although such things had been renegotiated during it)._ Signing back in, Kakashi bids his teammates goodbye—a single chūnin and another jōnin—without much fanfare and heads reorientates himself towards the hospital_, (general check-ups after a mission that expected fighting is apparently required now and, well, his initial reaction is to complain and whine about it but with his pack cute little chūnins in mind, he's rethinking that idea)_.

_(And it's not that strange, really, to consider that'd he prefers there be some sort of check in following a mission where injuries are likely, because ninjas are far too likely to retreat into places they designate as safe and nurse their own injuries themselves. But without alerting the proper authorities, there's a chance that one will get sent on another mission. The statistics regarding ninjas dying from injuries due to not caring for them properly or going on a mission whilst injured is still absurdly high when it really shouldn't be. Kakashi's been lucky so far as he has some medical training—a bit more than the ordinary jōnin thanks to his ANBU career—but not everyone is like him.) _

The hospital visit goes smoothly and quickly, which Kakashi can appreciate. There's even a distinct lack of chemicals—or at least it seems that way to his nose—and the medic-nin checking over him briefly mentions that new changes have been made to make hospital visits easier for those with heightened senses_, (and it says something that no one had thought of it before but Kakashi isn't sure what that something is)._ At long last, he's released with a firm warning to rest and recover and not take missions for at least two days. Easy advice to follow and it's made easier that Kakashi wants to be in Konoha, _(and that thought isn't strange but it would have been once upon a time, when he fled his demons and his guilt by throwing himself in mission after mission because his family and teammates had died for this village that often cared too little for its individuals),_ since his team is here, _(and they're no longer his team perhaps, but none of them are going to let one another go easily). _

The trio are easy to find, currently in a training ground with some of the other ninjas that graduated with them. Kakashi knows most of them by clan name, primarily because they're such high profile targets and ANBU guard missions within Konoha, _(babysitting missions, as the ANBU often joked),_ had been the bane of his existence once upon a time, _(an easy way to enforce rest and recovery for ANBU who refused to put down their masks)_. However, the other ninjas, a motley group of genins and chūnins, are quick to disperse as Kakashi takes care to land quietly in a tree nearby, chakra almost-but-not-quite smothered.

Funnily enough, such behaviour doesn't make Kakashi's metaphorical hackles go up and... And that's strange.

_(But it's also not, because what Kakashi isn't quite realising is that these ninjas are not running from him, not fearing him. They are leaving so he can talk to his pack and they are not pack—not yet, even if they might be one day.) _

_(Instincts are not quite something you can put into words easily and Kakashi is not one who usually tries to.)_

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto greets in delight, spotting him first as he lightly hops down from the tree. "You're back!"

"And like ridiculously early," Sakura adds, "are you okay?"

"Maa, are my cute little chūnins doubting my abilities?"

Meeting his gaze evenly, Sasuke bluntly says, "Yes."

Moving in a blur of speed, Kakashi captures Sasuke and messes up his hair. "Irritating chūnins don't get to have neat hair," he says decisively, letting Sasuke go after a moment. Sasuke huffs in irritation as he fixes his hair, glaring at Kakashi. "Now, what have you all been up to?"

"Not much," Naruto admits. "Training, primarily, although we did have a few C-rank missions as a team. Two were within Konoha's boundaries whilst a third was acting as an escort for someone to the nearest village. Nothing overly interesting but Sasuke's been doing some research in the Uchiha Clan Library."

Kakashi had visited the Uchiha Clan Library once, with Toru and Sasuke, to know where books about the Sharingan were kept. The name of the library itself is fairly misleading since, more than anything else, it's a collection of books. Initially, Toru had explained, it was simply a place to put all the books and notes kept by various Uchiha families but, with the expansion of the compound to include non-Uchihas, it had just become a place to read with anyone leaving books behind. What really caught Kakashi's attention, aside from how there are no limitations on who reads what books, is the seal work put into the library.

The seals ensure that if any book from the library is taken without permission—permission granted in the form of putting blood on the cornerstone seal. If one didn't do that, Kakashi had been told, upon leaving the building, an alarm would go off in the library itself and alerts would reach both the Uchiha Police Force as well as those tied into the seal, consisting of Sasuke, Naruto, and Toru.

Kakashi directs his gaze at Sasuke, knowing that such a thing would have been brought up for a reason. "Oh? What have you found?"

"Information about the Uchiha Clan Compound from the time before Konoha. It gave us a way to find it? Like... it wasn't sealed away or destroyed or anything, just hidden from us or something," Sasuke explains.

"That makes sense," Sakura says, slowly, before Kakashi can speak. "Do you remember going through the original alliance that lead to the founding of Konoha? The peace treaties had some interesting terms especially because no clan really thought that peace was going to work. I looked into for an assignment and it mentioned that the Uchiha, if a term in the treaty was broken, could leave—which indicates that their compound is still around. Or, at least, that's what I've assumed."

Sasuke nods. "That's what some of the older books in the library say," he agrees. "However, what's really interesting is how they mention ways to get back; although, it sounds like they were relying on something? I mean, there's a general map that Naruto and I think can be traced back to a location that's clearly got nothing there, and the books refer to this map and then say 'follow the pathway' or something strange."

Kakashi regains their attention by briefly clearing his throat. "It's very likely that the Uchiha Clan hid their compound away from prying eyes, especially if they didn't want people to know that it was there. The map may lead to a location where, due to specific features that the Uchiha Clan used to know about some time ago, only Uchihas can follow a hidden trail to get to the compound. But the compound itself would definitely be hidden away and trapped."

"Would there be seals?" Naruto asks.

Humming, Kakashi thinks about it. "Probably not," he says slowly. "During the Clan Wars era, seals were primarily used by the Uzumaki Clan and a few others scattered to the east. The Senju Clan, however, was known for using seals—primarily Tobirama Senju—but that could have been due to their close ties with the Uzumaki Clan, which was ensured through the marriage of Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki."

There's an idea starting to take place in the back of Kakashi's head, but he lets it be for now, deciding to distract the chūnins with something else, _(it's been some time since they've gone on a mission altogether, after all)_. Clapping his hands, he says, "So, want to show me what you've all managed in the time I was away?"

The trio grin, _(and if it's a little bit bloodthirsty, well, no one is going to say anything; they are ninjas after all)_. "You're going down!" Naruto crows and, well, Kakashi can't very well let him get away with that, can he?

* * *

**Day 25**

**_Mission Type:_**_ Clan Business (Infiltration)_

**_Rank:_**_ C_

**_Mission Objective:_**_ Recent information hints that the Uchiha Clan Compound dating pre-Konoha's founding may be found following information discovered in the Uchiha Clan Library from the Clan War era. As such, the mission objective is to find the compound and, if the Uchiha Clan Heir agrees, destroy the compound to prevent information leaks to undesirable sources. _

**_Client:_**_ Itachi Uchiha; Uchiha Clan Head; retired ninja (current civilian)_

**_Location:_**_ Unknown, Hi no Kuni_

**_Teams Requested:_**_ Team Kakashi, under Kakashi Hatake (009720), consisting of Sakura Haruno (012601), Sasuke Uchiha (ID: 012606), and Naruto Uzumaki (ID: 012607)_

* * *

**Day 26**

Naruto grabs the mission scroll from one of the mission-desk chūnins and returns to his team. Together, the three leave the building with Naruto looking at the scroll first as designated mission leader. "Huh," he says, once finished, and then rereads it. "Hey guys, did either of you speak to Kakashi-sensei about doing a mission with him?"

Sakura and Sasuke both shake their heads. "Why?"

"We've got one," Naruto says, handing over the scroll to Sakura who shares it with Sasuke.

"Mission objective: undisclosed, client: undisclosed, team requested: us, location: unknown, mission rank: C, see team leader Kakashi Hatake for information," Sakura reads. "I wonder what it's about."

"We've never been requested as a team before," Sasuke says, "so clearly the client is someone we know. I wonder why it's all so secretive."

Stopping at the gate, they peer around for Kakashi, _(and they know that he's just waiting to sneak up on them because he does it all the time and yet they still haven't managed to catch him out beforehand)_. "That would be, my dear little chūnins, because it's clan business." Naruto and Sakura whirl around, hearts pounding, instantly preparing for a threat whilst Sasuke watches their backs. From behind his mask, Kakashi's grin grows wilder and—somehow sensing it—Naruto scowls.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"You need to get better at chakra sensing," Kakashi says, "this is the best way to do it."

"That sounds wrong," Sakura says as Sasuke turns around.

"Definitely a lie," Sasuke says narrowing his eyes. "I'm sure there are better ways to do things."

"Yeah!"

Takuma barks, distracting the trio from the conversation. "What's the mission?" Sasuke asks, "Or, if you can't tell us yet, anything vital to pack for?"

"It's in Hi no Kuni," Kakashi discloses, "but the only main thing we need to be wary of is traps so nothing out of the ordinary. We're not expecting enemies, but-"

"Better safe than sorry," the three chime together.

"We've got our general packs," Sakura says, "so we can leave whenever you're ready Kakashi-sensei."

"Good," Kakashi replies, "because we leave now." With that said, he speeds out of the gate, probably becoming a blur to a civilian's eye. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura—however—are not civilians, and so quickly follow the jōnin out the gate.

He leads them eastward for half-an-hour without saying anything else about the mission. Rather than badgering him about it, the other three keep careful watch on their surroundings. Then, without a word, he halts them by a fallen tree and drops from the treetops onto it, shifting so he's sitting on it. Slightly slower and less graceful, the others follow, with Naruto remaining standing when he misses out on finding a dry spot to sit. Pouting, he crosses his arms, but doesn't say anything, waiting for Kakashi to talk.

"The mission, as you're aware, is a C-rank mission. What you're not aware of is the client and the objective of the mission, correct?"

Naruto nods in agreement. "You said that it had something to do with the Clans, right?"

Catching his line of thought, Sakura narrows her eyes. "Which is strange because there are a lot of clan ninjas who would be a better fit for a clan mission," she says thoughtfully. "Case in point is how many Clan Heirs graduated from the Academy with us."

"In fact," Sasuke continues, "the only clan mission we could get is one for the Uchiha Clan." Takuma barks, tail wagging in excitement. "Is Itachi-nii the client? And we have to find the old compound?"

"You made a mission for us!" Naruto says with a wide grin. "I knew you'd missed us Kakashi-sensei!"

Biting back a joking retort, _(who'd miss you brats?)_, that'd hit far too close to home, Kakashi hums instead. "It'd been some time since we'd worked together and I am meant to be your teacher after all." From his pack, Kakashi pulls out a storage scroll and hands it over to Sasuke, who takes it in careful hands. "I believe you're one of the few who could open that."

Sakura and Naruto both peer over Sasuke's shoulders and, unsurprisingly, he doesn't try to prevent them from seeing, instead tilting the scroll so they are able to see it better. "Yeah, the Uchiha Clan and Naruto can open it," Sasuke agrees, before glancing up at Kakashi, squinting. "Maybe you? I'm not sure how you classify considering your eye and all that." Thankfully, Kakashi doesn't have to respond, since Sasuke opens the scroll with a smear of blood in the ensuing quiet.

What unseals is a map that Sakura has seen a few times in the Uchiha Clan Compound, it'd been pinned up on one of the walls in an empty house, _(she'd seen the plaque there, for the house occupants; it'd been the old Clan Head house, where Sasuke had grown up once upon a time; now it rests empty and cold and sad)_. She watches as Sasuke places a finger down on the map's windrose.

The windrose starts glowing as Sasuke channels chakra into the map. Sakura watches in amazement as the markers start appearing on the map, showing different areas. She assumes the lines that appear mark the boundaries of the different clan territories. It's an amazing map and nothing like Sakura has ever seen before. Even though she's not overly interested in history, she has to admit it easily grabs her attention. One of their friends would probably love to see it, _(but Sakura's not going to mention the map or its importance to them; after all, there's bound to be a reason why Sasuke hasn't mentioned it yet)_.

"That's not right," Kakashi says, glancing over the map. "I know for a fact that the Senju Clan's compound is here," he taps a part of the map that's just trees, "as opposed to over here."

"Yeah," Sasuke agrees. "I might need your help for the next bit. Do you have some paper about this size?" The question's directed at Sakura, who's brought some texts that Anko had told her to read along with paper to write notes on.

It takes under a minute for Sakura to bring out the largest paper she brought with her and hand it over to Sasuke. He nods in thanks and activates his Sharingan. Almost immediately, he starts sketching, redrawing parts of the map but it's subtly different.

"Can the true map only be seen with the Sharingan?" Kakashi asks, shifting his hitai-ate to look at the map himself.

"We're not certain," Sasuke explains, even as he continues recreating the map. "Itachi can see the same map with his Sharingan as I do. Years ago, though, Toru attempted to take a look at the seal work. He complained it was pretty tricky to understand since it wasn't the same style or something? I can't quite remember. Anyway, he said it looked like there was a way to see the true map without the Sharingan but we couldn't quite figure it out properly. Potentially something to do with blood? After all, it doesn't make sense to have the map only seen with Sharingan when not everyone activated it and the clan wasn't all ninjas." He pauses, glancing at the two. "I think that's done, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Looks like you got it all," Kakashi agrees. "Now, let's see what we can tell from the new map."

Interestingly enough, this map doesn't have the boundaries for different clans. It's Naruto who asks the question that plagues Sakura's mind. "Why's there no clan boundaries drawn in this war?"

"Sasuke, can you answer that question?" Kakashi asks.

"Yeah," Sasuke agrees, handing the hand-drawn map to Kakashi to look at. "It's actually how Toru and I knew something was wrong about the map in the first place. During the Clan Wars era, most of the territories for the different clans changed with new battles. Most clans did have a definite space, but it grew or shrunk across the years so if you wanted a good map, there was no point actually putting in the territories. Not to mention, having such a thing was really dangerous and could be used against you. Did I answer that properly?"

"Yep!" Naruto says. "So that's why it has the compounds marked more than anything else, right?"

Sasuke nods before tapping a mark on the map. There's no need to say what it is, even without colour the Uchiha Clan symbol is distinct. "It's not the location of the compound," he explains, glancing at Kakashi who nods in agreement. "But it's a good starting place to figure out where to look."

There's a minute of silence when no one speaks, the three new chūnins staring at Kakashi in expectance. Kakashi's one visible brow rises in response. "Oh, right," Naruto says, breaking the quiet. "I'm team leader. Sasuke, can you guide us to the point on the map?" Sasuke nods. "Good, you're on point though. Don't use your Sharingan unless you have to but when we're getting close, be careful. The Clan Wars era was _dangerous_. Kakashi-sensei, can watch our backs or are you taking an observing position for this mission?"

"I'll partake in the mission," Kakashi agrees.

"Okay, you're watching our backs then. Sakura, you've got right and I've got left. Sasuke, keep Takuma with you but keeping extra watch for the rest of us as well? We shouldn't encounter anything dangerous or problematic nor are we trying to keep hidden for now, so we can move altogether. Keep to the treetops per standard procedure, though," Naruto orders. "On your mark, Sasuke."

The maps and paper is sealed away, with the exception of the hand drawn map that Sasuke folds up and places in his pocket. "Moving," Sasuke says as he leaps up, chakra powering his legs to boost him into the treetops. Takuma follows him by running up a nearby trunk, and then all five are moving quickly through the trees.

* * *

Sasuke calls them to a stop silently, a hand held in the air. "What is it?" Naruto asks, coming to a stop next to Sasuke, gesturing to Kakashi and Sakura to stay alert.

"We're at the location that the map pinpointed," Sasuke says quietly. "But there's nothing around. Reconvene as a group?"

"Alright," Naruto agrees. "We'll head down to ground level." He whistles like a small bird, three short bursts and drops down to the ground with his teammate, _(brother, family, friend),_ by his side.

Sakura lands last, silently dropping to a crouch next to a pile of leaves, _(and Naruto would bet this mission's pay that she had considered sending the leaves flying at them)_. "This is where the map lead us to," he quickly explains. "I'm not entirely sure what to do from here so Kakashi-sensei, I'm asking for your expertise."

After nodding in approval, Kakashi glances around. "I'm not seeing anything obviously pointing to a clan compound nor can I sense anything nearby. Is Takuma picking anything up, Sasuke-kun?"

Takuma flicks his ears. "He isn't," Sasuke responds. "But it's not like he would pick anything up from so long ago. Is there something specific he should be searching for?"

"Seeing if there's anyone around was my primary objective but also, sometimes ninkens are able to better pick up somethings than we are," Kakashi explains. "I'm not entirely sure what we should be looking for, though. No one's ever gone trying to find an old compound as far as I'm aware."

"Could it only be known how to get there if you were from the Clan Wars era?" Sakura asks, directing her gaze at Sasuke, who tilts his head in thought.

_(And Sasuke knows the Uchiha Clan Compound better than he did as a kid when he lived there. He's gone through every house with Toru and probably cried on every street at least once. But, more importantly, he's been told all the safety protocols that Toru had put in place and the Uchiha Police Force had maintained. The one main secret that remains is the exit at the back of the compound into the forests surrounding Konoha. Naruto knows about it. Toru knows about it. And he knows about it. He doesn't think Itachi knows about it. Nevertheless, the point is that it's not well known and Sasuke, no matter how much he trusts Konoha and the people around him, can't help but think that somethings need to remain unknown, somethings need to remain a secret.) _

_(Sasuke would burn a village for his family. He'd like to keep that knowledge a secret too.)_

"No," he says slowly. "The Uchiha Clan could leave Konoha if things went bad and the treaties show that such a thing was an option. The Uchiha Clan were thinking of their future descendants, not just current clan members. There has to be a way to find the compound now. I'm just not sure how."

"Do you know anything about the Hatake Clan Compound that could help us, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asks, turning to face Kakashi.

"No," Kakashi says, rather abruptly, _(because there is no Hatake Clan Compound in Konoha and there are no other Hatake Clan members and sometimes Kakashi wants to mourn the rest of the clan he should have had because, more often than not, he is part of a pack of one)_. "The Hatake Clan never had a compound in Konoha. My clan has always been too small to receive that kind of land," he explains, _(and it's an apology that they all understand and accept)_. "Still, in the height of our power before the worst of the Clan Wars, we had farmland for hectares and hectares. It was primarily forests with a few farmhouses and pastures scattered throughout. It was a place where my clan could run and live as we were meant to be with our own individual packs."

_(And now the Hatake Clan is one person with their pack in a small apartment. There is no farmland now, sold off during the first war for money due to a bad Clan Head who almost made the clan go broke.)_

"Oh," Sakura says softly. "I suppose we'll just have to figure it out ourselves."

Suddenly, Naruto sniggers. "What?" Sakura turns, hands on hips, snapping at him. Instead of responding, Naruto's laughter gets louder, bubbling out of him, and he bends over with the force of it.

"We're," he manages to wheeze out, "bloody idiots." He continues laughing, now rubbing tears from his eyes. "The Sharingan shou-" he loses his sentence amidst giggles once again, "should show us where."

"Wow, we're so dumb," Sasuke says before activating his Sharingan. With his vision taking on a red tinge, he starts looking around. Kakashi's not helping, which Sasuke understands considering the insane amount of chakra his one Sharingan eye costs, _(and there's got to be a reason for that and he should probably look into it with Sakura at some point)_, but he does point upwards.

Taking the obvious hint, Sasuke runs up a tree trunk. It makes sense, to head upwards, since the trees would have grown quite a bit from the Clan Wars era to now. Resting near the top, Sasuke pauses and slowly starts spinning, trying to catch something out of the ordinary. A flash of red and white in his peripheral vision steals his attention, and turning, he leaps onto another branch to get a closer look whilst not venturing too close.

It's a seal, of some sort. Layers of intricate lines that glow with chakra. Sasuke doesn't know much about seals, _(only what he's learnt from Toru more because Toru likes to share information on seals with everyone whether or not they understand)_, but the seal looks rather unwieldy and useless. There's a lot there but it's all for one purpose that seems wrapped up in one section of the seal, the rest is useless.

_(It's interesting and he knows Toru would love to see it. It makes him itch to record it so he can recreate it later when Toru is found comes back.)_

_(Sasuke doesn't know if anyone knew about the Uchiha Clan's tendency to couple genjutsus with basic seals in the Clan War era, because he certainly hadn't. Then again, the seals shown so far have been focussed on concealment and tracking purposes.) _

Another flashing seal-genjutsu catches his attention, maybe thirty metres away, visible only due to the Sharingan. It's like something out of a story or a legend. And, upon narrowing his eyes, he can just make out another flashing marker sixty metres away. He flares his chakra, which results in his teammates joining him on the branch.

Glancing at Kakashi, he asks, "Can you see the markers with your Sharingan?"

After lifting his hitai-ate, Kakashi nods. "I can. Do you think that the Sharingan required for it to be seen?"

"I'm not sure," Sasuke replies with a shrug. "It's possible but... I don't know enough about seals and I don't particularly want to see what happens if I channel chakra into it or bleed onto it."

"Toru was a big believer in not mucking around with strange seals," Naruto adds. "Are we gonna follow these markers you're seeing?"

"There's no other lead," Sakura points out, which Naruto nods in agreement.

"Alright then. Stick together as a group, same formation as previous, Sasuke on point. Watch out for traps everyone."

It's been twenty-five days since Toru left Konoha.

* * *

**With a little bit of trickery, Kakashi manages to go on a mission with his students—to locate and explore the Uchiha Clan Compound from before Konoha was founded. And, with a little bit of teamwork and clever thinking, they're on their way.**

* * *

**This plot point tried to kill me multiple times. It was also meant to be like 2,500 words max. so like half a chapter. Instead, it grew and grew and grew some more and formed the foundation for two chapters instead. Can't say I have an issue with that to be honest. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**I got to show some Kakashi development here and also the changes in Konoha in regards to Tsunade implementing new systems (with a focus on health and the hospital system). **

**Briefly, the other rookies appear and disappear with Kakashi's entrance because they understand that the trio (that is, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto) care for him, are attached to him, a bit more than they are with their senseis (although, those bonds are still close, they are still teacher and students after all). **

**Kakashi being back early is something that's going to be linked to Team 7's awful, awful luck when they go on missions together. I am planning to have fun with this later.**

**Also, I have a habit of forgetting Takumi kinda exists... **

**Anyway, we focus on Naruto as team leader even if Kakashi, technically, is the team leader. He's just giving Naruto a chance to lead without actually being the recorded team leader. It's a lesson for all of them. **

**Toru just keeps appearing in like every chapter even though he definitely isn't there. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! **


	6. Part 1: Finding

**Day 27**

The markers stop without warning and there's nothing around that shows the compound. "This is the end of the trail," Sasuke explains as he forces a bit more chakra into his eyes, boosting the Sharingan temporarily. In response, his vision sharpens and it becomes easier to see everything. "Anyone sensing anything strange?" He asks, narrowing his eyes at the apparent forest in front of him. Something about it seems wrong, false.

"There's a genjutsu," Kakashi explains. "Blocks even the Sharingan's automatic breaking of genjutsu, but you should be able to notice the thin layer of chakra in front of you that keeps it activated."

Now that he knows what to look for, Sasuke can see what Kakashi is speaking about. The trees that had pinged his senses at wrong did have a strange light to them, the layer of chakra that Kakashi had spoken of. He flares his chakra, but nothing happens. It makes sense, in theory, as the genjutsu is hiding something from his sight but technically isn't manipulating his chakra system. Although, it's possible to break such genjutsus with a chakra flare, it's usually only ones that haven't been done by a genjutsu master.

Watching the chakra behind the genjutsu is slightly hypnotising and it reminds him of water lapping at the shore of a lake or river. It strengthens and then fades, _(like the ocean that starred in many of Toru's stories)_. Sasuke vaguely feels like spending hours to watch it, the gentle and quiet nature of it, _(and it's almost strange that a bloody time like the Clan Wars era can result in something so beautiful and calm)_. Shaking himself, he turns his focus back to the task on hand—breaking the genjutsu.

No genjutsu could have been left so long without something or someone powering it and, based off what they've seen so far on this mission, Sasuke's going to guess that a seal is involved somehow. A seal master would be needed to break such a seal and-

A flicker in the genjutsu catches his attention and makes him lose his trail of thought. And, only now, does Sasuke realise he missed something when he'd first scanned the genjutsu.

_(My favourite story is the one that gifts Susanoo the title of god of sea and storms, Toru had said once—or something along those lines. Toru had shared it once, quietly, in whispered words and half-broken phrases, during a night of bad dreams where they were both lost in their grief more than anything else. But such a story deserved such a night, Toru had said as dawn broke into Konoha, for it was not a light-hearted story. Too full of anger and hate, of destruction and revenge, yet still it had hope hidden in the empty spaces, in the brief pauses. It had spoken of love and family and Sasuke had felt the feelings resonate in his bones. It isn't his favourite story, but he had understood why it had been Toru's.) _

Hidden behind the gentle and hypnotising nature of the genjutsu is something only those growing up in the Uchiha Clan could catch. He probably should have seen it before—_like water_, he'd thought, and yet it only clicks now. Susanoo, god of sea and storms, who bled to have such a title and—in doing so—returned to his family.

"I think there's a blood seal involved in this," Sasuke says to the others. "There's like a secret message hidden in the genjutsu. I'm not sure how to explain it but it reminds me of Susanoo's stories I've been told."

Naruto nods in understanding, having heard a few of the stories. "Alright, any idea on how to do it all?"

"Head down to ground level and see if it works, I suppose," Sasuke says.

"There's no better way to do it," Kakashi agrees grimly, "even though this is a good way to get killed. With any luck, the Uchiha Clan should have nullifications so that their own kin aren't injured when returning to the compound."

Once on the forest floor, Sasuke walks up to where the genjutsu starts and presses his hand against one of the false tree trunks. It's hard beneath his hand, like a barrier, and—with the use of a kunai—he lightly cuts the back of his hand. Then, he presses it against the barrier, bloodied side first. The genjutsu seems to shake, before the chakra crests and comes roaring down. The genjutsu feels like it fractures against his skin, but there are no sharp edges. It's warm and welcoming and it wraps around him, _(and it's almost like he could be coming home to Toru, to family, to love, to comfort)_. It's wonderful and strange and Sasuke has no idea how the Uchiha Clan managed this but, if the clan ever did leave Konoha, coming back to this would make everything better he reckons.

"Did you feel that?" Sakura asks, awed. She rubs her hands up and down her arms. "Kakashi-sensei, since when could genjutsu and seals do _that_?"

"I've never experienced something like that," Kakashi replies, "but it doesn't surprise me that such a thing can be done. It's sad that it was lost to the past, though."

"We might be able to find out how now though!" Naruto says. "This has to be the compound!" The object that had caused Naruto's statement was a rather tall wall that rose with the trees. It was made of grey stone and, despite all the years it had stood abandoned, it still seemed to be in perfect condition.

"Compounds were made to last during the Clan War era," Kakashi says, having spotted where his students' attention was. "This stone wall will probably outlast all of us, to be honest."

"It makes sense that it was stone," Sakura says, "since the Uchiha Clan tend to have fire chakra affinities, but then how couldn't people just tunnel below?"

Sasuke shakes his head. "There'd be traps of all kinds beyond the walls," he says. "The best place to enter would be through the gate. Plus, I remember reading that there used to be two walls. There's the stone one and then there's a wooden one or something behind it? I'm not sure if there still is, since there was written before Hashirama's time as Clan Head and his wood release."

"Kakashi-sensei, do you want to be team leader for this part of the mission? None of us really have much experience in... this," Naruto says, gesturing to the compound's wall.

Kakashi ruffles Naruto's head in response, the other two ducking away and out of reach. "Sure thing!" He says cheerfully. "Keep your eyes ready for anything though."

The trio follow Kakashi around the compound to the closed gates that had the Uchiha Clan symbol painted onto it. The gates were heavy, but with the application of chakra, the four manage to push them open and make their way into the compound. The first look they get at the entire compound isn't a very nice one. It's clear that no one has come in quite some time. The plants are all overgrown and weeds have sprung up everywhere, even between stones that acted as paving. In places where there is paint, its peeling and faded. Some of the houses have holes as well from something or another. As the group slowly walk down the path, a startled rabbit sprints across in front of them and disappears beneath a nearby house.

"Looks like nature wasn't fooled by the genjutsu," Sakura says.

"Yeah," Naruto agrees, glancing at Sasuke who looks—okay, which is the best Naruto could probably hope for, _(he hopes that coming to an empty Uchiha Clan Compound wouldn't trigger anything, but it looks like everything's okay or will be, at least)_.

"What are we going to be looking for?" Kakashi asks, also looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke shakes himself out of the stupor he'd entered. "There's reason to suspect that not all the information from this compound was brought over to Konoha," he says. "It shouldn't be left in the houses, but like—an archive? Or a library? Or maybe just something communal to share the knowledge? The ways the clan worked changed since we joined Konoha."

"What was it like back then?" Sakura asks, not only because it's interesting but also because this is Sasuke's clan and so she wants to know more.

"I'm... not entirely sure. But we got a lot of our income from various avenues, even if the majority did come from ninja work," Sasuke says, _(and he hadn't really thought about it before, but he wonders what the Uchiha Clan from the Clan Wars era had been like; an awful time and things wouldn't have been as safe as they are now, yet surely it would have been good to be part of a plan that had many of its values entrenched in family as opposed to reputation)_.

"Quite a bit came from blacksmithing as well," Naruto adds, pointing at a group of buildings that stand apart from the others and lack the traditional appearances. Instead of wood and light colours, they're stone and dark. Forges for the blacksmithing, Naruto knows. Letting his gaze wander around, he spots black lines scarred onto the stone he's about to step onto, yelping he leaps over it at the last minute, already hearing the mental beratement of Kakashi-sensei, _(careful Naruto-kun, always be on watch in dangerous territory)_, and Toru, _(ninjas often can't afford to make the same mistake, learn from this)_.

However, as his foot comes down on the next stone, it disappears from underneath him. Simultaneously, Sasuke activates his Sharingan, therefore recognising that there is no seal on the stone Naruto had avoided; he leaps forward as well, hand outstretched and reaching for Naruto's. Sakura, identifying that there is a problem even if she isn't sure what it is, grabs Sasuke's other arm, plants her feet and tugs. Just in time too, as Naruto's fall into a pit is prevented by Sasuke's hand, although the Uchiha would've tumbled in after if it hadn't been for Sakura's quick thinking. Kakashi, on the other hand, had quickly taken up position on the other side of the pit, ready to take whatever extra action is necessary.

Naruto is quickly pulled out of the pit and back onto actual ground. "Are you alright?" Sakura asks.

Nodding, Naruto says, "Yeah, you guys managed to stop me from falling. I tried to use chakra but it was like I couldn't."

"Void stones," Kakashi explains, crouching down, albeit not close enough to the edge to risk falling. "They suck in chakra and ensure that a person can't channel it. There are seals that do the same thing and are more likely to be used, since these stones mainly prevent the interaction of chakra with another object."

"So it'd stop you from walking back up the wall with chakra?" Sakura asks.

"One of the main reasons it'd be used for a pit trap," Kakashi says in agreement. "It was clever to use a genjutsu and trick someone into moving elsewhere where the trap really is."

"A common trick for trappers," Naruto agrees, eyes narrowed. "I should've been prepared for that."

Sasuke nudges Naruto in the side, drawing him away from his irritation at himself. "C'mon," Sasuke says. "We've got to try and find this archive. I reckon it'll be near the middle since it'd need to be defended."

"Good reasoning," Kakashi says, ruffling Sasuke's hair. "Keep your Sharingan on for now, as it might help with spotting more traps like this one."

* * *

Eleven traps later, according to Kakashi, _(who believes that fireball and tripwire are two different traps but that Naruto tripping over a weed is not a trap)_, they find a building that has 'Archive' written above its doorway.

Sasuke pauses by the doorway, Sharingan glowing in the shadows cast by the roof above. "There's a pathway through," he says after pushing the door open, which groaned in protest, but did as it was meant to. "Chakra in certain floorboards."

Bending down, Kakashi hums. "It's either a trap or not a trap and this would be where things try to get deadly dangerous."

"Hey," Naruto interjects loudly with a scowl, "that bomb of shrapnel nearly took all of our heads off!"

Kakashi waves his hand. "Yeah, but it was obvious to see and avoid after the trap was triggered so it wasn't really deadly." Naruto eyes Kakashi but doesn't reply.

"It doesn't look like there's anything in there," Sakura says doubtfully, channelling chakra into her eyes to get a better look at the archive's inside. "I'm just seeing empty shelves."

"The front, at the very least, is empty," Sasuke agrees. "Probably means that there's something hidden properly further in. I'm not sure what to do about entering as I'm certainly trusting the roof to be trapped."

The group takes a moment to remember how a bird had landed on one of the houses' roofs and flown off, only for a burst of fire to follow the removal of pressure. "They mightn't do that here since it's wood," Sakura says, but her voice sounds uncertain more than anything else.

"Idea!" Naruto says, jumping off the porch and checking a nearby overgrown flowerbed, which didn't contain flowers anymore as opposed to weeds and something overly bushy. A moment later, he reaches into it and pulls something out, before hurrying back to the doorway. Opening his hand, he shows the rocks he just retrieved. "If we throw these we should be able to activate a trap of some sort," he explains. "We can check whether we should walk on the chakra floorboards or the chakraless floorboards."

"Smart," Kakashi appraises, herding the others off of the porch. "But we do this from distance. Sasuke, you're the one who can see the floorboards, so you throw."

Nodding, Sasuke takes the stones from Naruto's hand. With the weight of his teammates and teacher's gaze on his back, he stifles the urge to roll his shoulders, no matter how much he wishes to. Instead, he focusses on the closest floorboard that lacks chakra. It's a few metres away and a large enough target that it'd be hard to miss. He throws the rock.

It clatters loudly against the floorboard, bouncing once, before skittering to a stop. The silence makes the blood pounding in Sasuke's ears seem much louder than it really is. Nothing happens after a minute, and Sasuke relaxes.

"Try the floorboard after it," Naruto offers. "If I was trapping this thing, I'd leave the first few floorboards alone so that the victim assumed there were no traps at all."

Sasuke does as asked. This time, the second the rock hits the floorboard, a group of senbon drop from the roof with force, striking the floorboard with enough force that they sink into it by a few centimetres.

"I reckon the chakra floorboards will be the way to go," Sakura says.

Although he agrees, Sasuke knows better than to walk on them without testing it first. The third rock is thrown. It hits the floorboard with enough force that the floorboard creaks, even though that hadn't been Sasuke's goal, but nothing happens, not even after a few minutes.

"Takuma, stay," he orders, causing the ninken to whine. "Step where I step," he says, as he takes his first step into the archive. It's eerily quiet, which is probably to be expected, but it makes Sasuke more uneasy than he'd already been. At least outside, there'd been the sounds of nature. In here, it's silent and even the noise from outside is muffled.

The almost silence, _(due to the three chūnins who, despite trying very hard, have not quite mastered the art of silent walking)_, is abruptly broken by Sakura sneezing, following which she immediately sniffles. "Sorry," she says, hushed, "the dust got to me."

"It's certainly something," Naruto agrees.

Kakashi makes a noise of interest. "Is it?" He asks mildly.

"Can't you tell?" Naruto says in response, the ensuing quiet only makes his groan louder. "That was awful Kakashi-sensei. You didn't have to rub it in our face that you wear a mask." Hidden behind his mask, Kakashi's smile grows wider, but his soft laughter can still be heard by his students, who smile to themselves at the sound, _(they have noticed that Kakashi is hesitant to smile and slower to laugh, but over time they have worn him down and it's better now)_.

"Why was the clan's archives so big?" Sakura asks.

"No access to storage scrolls," Sasuke explains. "Seals were expensive since they could carry so many things. Not to mention, there weren't any major shops for ninjas so a lot of the sealing knowledge stayed within clans and wasn't shared—which goes for most knowledge, to be honest. The use of storage scrolls, and the seal involved, only became widespread upon the construction of villages where knowledge was shared freely when it wasn't a clan technique."

"Toru said most sealing originated from Uzushio and the clans who founded it," Naruto says slowly. "But I think he said that as seals became more widespread different styles started occurring, although most are based upon a certain set of base seals."

"That is correct," Kakashi says. "Seals are still expensive today but that's primarily due to the fact that seal masters are rather rare. A few people, who put a lot of time and practice into it can make some commonly used seals such as storage seals or explosive tags. That's how Konoha sells most of the seals in the ninja stores that you see. It's a good way to make money but it can leave you getting stuck in the one spot in life, simply because it's so needed but it's not actually that applicable in many situations on missions."

"Toru used a lot of different seals," Sasuke adds, "but rarely storage or explosive seals." The group travel on in silence for a bit before Sasuke stops and says, "Hey, the path ends up ahead as we pass those walls up ahead through the doorway."

"Good spotting," Kakashi praises, looking over the heads of the three in front of him to see the doorway in question. "Don't enter the room but tell me what you can see and your thoughts on the space."

"It's a small room to be part of an archives, like one of the specialist rooms in Konoha's main library. The bookshelves here don't reach the roof but they still tower over me," Sasuke describes. "The space between shelves looks rather squished. The only really spacious areas is the space in front of me, which appears to be a path to the back of the room, and the shelves on the surrounding walls. Directly ahead, just to the left, on the back wall looks like a painting of some sort. Or it was, at some point. It's hard to tell what it once was.

"I'm going to assume that, since it's at the back of the archive, it's where they stored the most important things, which explains the lack of windows in here unlike the main room we just walked through. There's presumably something hidden here since the shelves we've passed are all empty and it's the same here," he pauses. "That's all I've got."

Without waiting to be prompted, Sakura jumps in. "I'm going to assume that the most important clan details—like information on the Sharingan that couldn't fall into enemy hands—was hidden somewhere in here or placed in this room. It's likely that the archive would've been organised by importance with things being the most important in the back where they are safer."

"Huh," Naruto says, cutting Sakura off. "Oh, sorry Sakura! Were you still speaking?"

"You can go."

"Right, so, maybe they had like ninjutsu and stuff recorded here? I mean, I know the Sharingan allows ninjas to like copy jutsus pretty much straight away, but it would make sense if the Uchiha Clan recorded the copied jutsus and shared them around especially since activating one's Sharingan isn't a definite thing, y'know? Like, it might happen, but it also might not," Naruto says.

"It was sort of done in Konoha," Sasuke agrees. "But it was up to the discretion of the person who copied the technique. Some were decided too dangerous to share but others were shared around and written down. There are some in our library now, although most of them are locked away so that only a select few can get them. Of course, we can also give permission to others and share them if they want. Quite a few of them have been lodged with Konoha's actual library and only really dangerous or problematic ones have been kept. We burnt a few, when we were going through them originally, because so many of them just shouldn't exist."

_(The disgust in Sasuke's voice is obvious to all of them, and Kakashi knows that both Sakura and Naruto would probably agree if they knew what kind of awful jutsus were out there—ones made for torture and pain and revenge, ones that could take out large groups of ninjas in one go, ones that could make people go insane. The trio have never partaken in war nor have they encountered the worst missions ninjas can take. They are young and it makes Kakashi glad that they don't know such things.)_

_(Toru would have known them, Kakashi knows, and he had destroyed the jutsus anyway. Maybe they had been something awful and better left in the past, or maybe Toru is just that kind of person to destroy them anyway. He doesn't think so though, because Toru's the kind of person who would keep the worst of things alive if they would help him and his in the future.)_

"There's no chakra pathway ahead?" Kakashi asks, bringing the three back to the mission.

"No," Sasuke says. "The room has no chakra that I can pick up with the Sharingan but... I think it's safe. I can toss a kunai and see?"

"Go for it, but be ready to move if necessary," Kakashi says. At the back of the group, he can do nothing but wait. Thankfully, nothing happens apart from a thunk that signals the landing of the kunai against the floor.

"Safe."

"Enter and fan out," Kakashi orders following Sasuke's report. "But be careful."

"Naturally," Sakura chirps, as if they're careful all the time, _(which is a lie, Kakashi knows, but the three are little monsters that like to façade as angels so no one ever believes him)_.

Spreading out, the group look through everything and search for a hint of where there may be more hidden information. One minute stretches into five, which then stretches into ten, which stretches into twenty. In the end, the search is stopped when Kakashi calls the others over to the painting, which is faded and clearly damaged, but Sasuke can still tell it was a painting of the Uchiha Clan Compound—this one, not the one in Konoha. However, that's not the important bit here.

"Is there anything weird about this painting?" Kakashi asks. And, well, the question indicates that something is strange but Sasuke can't quite figure it out so he shakes his head, along with Sakura and Naruto. "This was the only painting we've seen thus far in this building," Kakashi says, "or at least one of this size. It suggests that there's something different about this spot. Now," he crouches down, the others following his lead, "do you see these marks here?" Dust has been removed from the floor in front of them to show marks in the wooden floorboards next to one of the bookshelves.

"It looks like this bookshelf's been pushed in front of the painting multiple times," Sakura says.

Kakashi nods, a short, sharp movement. "Let's see what's behind that bookshelf, hmm?" Since he's standing closest to it, Sasuke plants his feet and shoves the bookshelf across the ground. It screeches as he does so, but that can't be avoidable. When the shelf's moved, a doorway is revealed.

"That's it," Sasuke whispers, more to himself than anyone else. "The books and scrolls left behind when the Uchiha clan helped found Konoha."

_(All Sasuke wants is a way to help Itachi, help Kakashi, help his team, help his family. This may be the way.)_

_(And, when they all leave, it will be with the compound in ruins, because the barrier cannot be recreated and Sasuke refuses to leave his clan's home to be found by people who don't care and won't care after it. It will remain as part of legend like the Senju Clan Compound and all those others that existed back in the Clan Wars era.)_

* * *

**Day 33**

It's the twenty-third of October and Toru is turning sixteen somewhere else, _(not at Sasuke's side or Naruto's side or in Konoha at all, and it still hurts, somewhere, deep and painful, and it eases but always returns much worse than before)_. Sasuke breathes in. Breathes out. Repeats.

It's the twenty-third of October. Toru is sixteen now. Toru is not here. Sasuke is. Sasuke's in Konoha and Toru is not, _(and he wants to cry, wants to give into despair and the unfairness of it all, because there have been no signs or anything, nothing that leads them to Toru or gives any sign that he's alright)_.

_One step at a time,_ Sasuke reminds himself. _One breath at a time._

With a flare of chakra, he calls up a flame that dances merrily above his fingertip. He lights the incense for Shisui's grave and bows his head. Sasuke's alone in the graveyard, for the most part, Takuma is at his side as always. Meanwhile, Naruto's at home with Iruka who is slowly starting to talk to Itachi, _(they're all dealing with the loss of Toru in their own way; he might not be dead, but he's still missing, still gone)_. If Sasuke had asked, Naruto would have come with him in a heartbeat, but Sasuke knows—he _knows_—that this is something he needs to do alone.

"Hey, Shisui," Sasuke says, leaving off any honorific, _(he has a feeling that Shisui would prefer it this way)_. "I know this isn't proper, but Toru spoke of you more than his parents." He pauses, thinking over everything. "I know you're not here anymore nor have you been for a while, but Toru's out there and I like to think that you're watching over him. He deserves someone to be watching out for him. Probably needs it too, to be honest. I hope he's doing alright. That he's okay. That he's happy." He pauses yet again, the quiet stretching. Nearby, a tree rustles in the slight wind. Takuma nudges his leg and he drops a hand onto the ninken's head and rubs it fondly. "I hope he found what he was looking for," Sasuke continues, eventually. "But, most importantly, I hope he's happy. He deserves happiness—deserves the world, really. I hope he's not grieving." He rubs his eyes, removing the appearance of any tears that might have arisen. Voice raspy, he continues in a whisper, "I hope he comes home soon."

_(The world is not kind nor gentle nor good. So Sasuke is alone, at a graveyard, head bowed in front of Shisui's grave stone, surrounded by the dead with their silent ghosts. This is a place that is quiet more often than not, although not forgotten. No, there are too many dead here for it to be forgotten, too much work has gone into remembering these people for it to be abandoned. Most of that is due to Sasuke and Toru's work throughout the years to ensure that the Uchiha Clan has been remembered, even with only three people forming that clan.) _

_(But even though Sasuke seems alone, without human companionship, there is comfort offered without question back home with his family, with his team, with his friends. Even though Sasuke wants to break down, wants to turn his head and hide from the world, he knows he won't. And, even if he does such a thing, he knows he'll be protected, that Naruto—at the very least—will protect him.) _

_(On days like these, Sasuke is so grateful for Toru, for doing all this, for giving him all of it. On his bad days, he is hateful and angry and too full of grief, only feeling the pain that Toru has brought rather than everything else.)_

It's been thirty-three days since Toru left Konoha.

* * *

**Together, Team Kakashi manage to find the old Uchiha Clan Compound and locate the information that Sasuke wanted to find. However, in the days that follow the completion of the mission, Toru's birthday is solemnly celebrated.**

* * *

_**And there's the rest of the mission that attempted to kill me and kept growing.**_

_**I got to squeeze in some more worldbuilding in the form of void stones, which became a thing after I thought about what else could exist if chakra paper exists. I have plans to bring this back again, at another point in time, in another one of Team 7's mission (... I think). **_

_**Okay, so the trap numbers. Kakashi counts eleven traps. Sakura counts nine because she ignores the trap the bird triggered since it didn't affect them. Naruto counts twelve because he tripped over a weed and refuses to believe it wasn't a trap made to trip him up. Sasuke counts ten because he counts two different traps as one (a tripwire was made to force Sasuke into another position to avoid it, which led to a fireball coming at his head, but since it isn't known if the tripwire actually was a trap by itself or if it was meant to trick people into moving to trigger the fireball trap).**_

_**Can you tell I was starting to get fed up with this plot point as we hit the archive? **_

_**The dust joke was something I was finding funny when I was writing this late at night so now you're all stuck with it as well.**_

_**And then it's Toru's birthday! That's all I'm going to say, so have fun with whatever feelings you get from this. It isn't as sad as I kinda thought it might get, but I don't mind too much either. I just wanted this chapter to be written and done with, to be honest.**_

_**Hope you guys are having a good month! Enjoy the rest of your day.**_


	7. Part 1: Ripples

**Day 43**

**_Mission Type:_** _Guarding _

**_Rank:_**_ B-ranked mission_

**_Mission Objective:_**_ Guard Riko and Hideaki Tamura along a planned route from Konoha to Hi no Kuni's capital._

**_Information:_**_ Riko Tamura (Hi no Kuni noble – see Appendix A for information) and Hideaki Tamura (Hi no Kuni noble – see Appendix A for information) are nobles close to the Daimyo requiring an escort from Konoha to Hi no Kuni's capital. Tamura's mission demands that their safety is paramount. Attention should be paid to ensuring that there are no complaints. Two separate teams were given this mission with a primary team to focus on protection of the nobles and a secondary team to focus on protecting the entourage. _

**_Primary Team: _**_Kakashi Hatake (#009720, jōnin, team leader), Sakura Haruno (#012601, chūnin, secondary leader), Sasuke Uchiha (#012606, chūnin), Naruto Uzumaki (#012607, chūnin)_

**_Secondary Team: _**_Anaguma (#010873, ANBU), Rama (#011026, ANBU)_

**_Mission Objective:_**_ Successfully completed to a satisfactory level _

**_Information Post-Mission: _**_n/a_

**_Primary Team Leader Report:_**_ Mission parameters remained unchanged. This report contains information relevant to attacks defended by the primary team. Four attacks launched by civilians were successfully repelled; at least one of these attacks was targeted at the Tamuras. The first two attacks were bandit groups (sixteen and twenty-three klicks from Konoha respectively), the third was a group of civilian mercenaries masquerading as bandits (twenty-six klicks from the capital), whilst the last occurring eleven klicks from the capital was another group of bandits. _

**_Secondary Team Report:_**_ Approximately three threats were apprehended before making it to the primary team's location along the planned route. The first threat approximately five klicks from Konoha was a single missing-nin, C-ranked, and was killed in the following fight (see Appendix B for information on the bounty and identity of the missing-nin). The second threat occurred during the second day, twilight hours, and involved a second bandit attack (see primary team report for more information). The third threat occurred six point eight klicks from the capital and involved a pair of A-ranked missing-nins attacking. Ensuring the mission objective was completed, the missing-nins did not get closer than three klicks to the Tamuras and were defeated (and killed), see Appendix B for information on the bounties and identities of the missing-nins. _

**_Team leader Observations:_**_ n/a _

**_Complaints From Team Regarding Teammates:_**_ None_

**_Complaints From Client:_**_ None_

* * *

**Day 45**

One of the first things Sasuke spots upon reaching the training ground is Akamaru lying beside Shikamaru, who's stretched out beneath the shade of a tree that skirts the edge of the training ground. Sasuke makes his way over quietly, searching for the others but not spotting them. The training ground that Hinata had reserved for the group is one that's more earth-based than anything else, meant to resemble Tsuchi no Kuni than anywhere else. Thus, it's high rising rocks that protrude roughly from the earth and complete with unstable surfaces. Landslides are all too common, especially after storms, and occasionally the ground slopes down, flash flooding occurs. It's often used by chūnins after storms for those who want to experience fighting when the environment is dangerous to you as well as your opponent. A few jōnin teachers apparently use it to train their genins, especially for when the chūnin exams are taking place outside of Konoha. That said, Sasuke doesn't quite remember ever seeing the training ground reserved when they were searching for one to use. Still, it probably is.

Shikamaru opens an eye as Sasuke approaches, which means that either Sasuke isn't being as quiet as he thought or Shikamaru hadn't been as asleep as he'd appeared, _(and, knowing Shikamaru, Sasuke really couldn't say which one it is)_. "Hey, Shika," Sasuke says as he reaches the other boy who, upon closer examination, looks dead on his feet. It's no wonder that he isn't partaking in whatever training's been cooked up.

"Hey," Shikamaru says, amusement clear in his tone—probably because he knows that Sasuke's wondering about his exhaustion but won't ask, _(it's rude, after all)_, and Shikamaru delights in confusing everyone because he has an awful sense of humour. "It's every ninja for themself," he explains, "while playing chakra tag. No team ups allowed, everyone has one disadvantage, and it's stealth based. Akamaru is sitting out on this one and acting as Kiba's disadvantage. Hinata isn't using her kekkei genkai. Shino can't use his bugs to track everyone and can only use them for limited actions. Chōji can't use his main taijutsu due to the restrictions of the training ground, so that's his disadvantage. Ino can't use any clan techniques. Sakura isn't allowed to use anything medical-based, which includes poisons. Naruto can't make any traps and can only use the basic three jutsus that we learnt in the academy along with any genjutsus he's picked up recently. And you, we decided pre-emptively, can't use any jutsu that Toru taught you in regards to stealth. But Takuma can help you."

"What do you think Takuma?" Sasuke asks the ninken, who does the dog equivalent of a shrug in response. "Helpful," Sasuke mutters before turning his attention to Shikamaru. "So," he says slowly, glancing at the training ground out of the corner of his eye. "Where is Shika actually, Ino?"

Shikamaru pouts, a rather Ino-expression, before the henge fails. "What gave it away?" Ino asks as she stands up, stretching. "You were watching the training ground a bit more obviously than Shika does," Sasuke says. "But Takuma pretty much told me, more than anything else. You can trick our eyes and ears, but your scent differs from Shika and isn't hidden enough."

"Damn," Ino says, stretching her arms as she stands up. "I best go find wherever Shika's taken up residence to nap in the training ground then. I was sure I'd managed to trick you when you greeted me as Shika."

"I came from a downwind direction," Sasuke replies. "How do we tell when someone's tagged?"

Ino grins, _(and there's something Naruto in the gesture, something warning of mischief and danger, and Sasuke already regrets asking)_, "Paint," she says cheerfully. "It's brown but when infused with chakra, it turns green. We each have a bucket sealed with us. Akamaru has yours, I believe." Akamaru barks, wagging his tail, and lifts his head, revealing a scroll that he'd trapped between his head and chest.

"Thanks," Sasuke says to both of them as he takes the scroll, placing it in his weapons pouch. "See you down there, Ino."

"Prepare to lose," Ino says, tilting her head in agreement, before she leaps over one rock and disappears from view.

Takuma whines and sits down, indicating that he's decided to sit this match out. "Very well," Sasuke says, narrowing his eyes at the pair of ninkens who are looking rather innocent, _(almost too innocent)_, "Stay out of trouble." With that said, Sasuke folds his chakra down to a small glowing ember in his chest and heads left, away from where Ino had entered the arena and—with any luck—away from the person who's currently It.

* * *

**Day 46**

_BINGO BOOK (NEWEST LEAF EDITION)_

**_Name:_**_ Sora Asano_

**_Classification:_**_ Missing-nin_

**_Rank:_**_ D-rank_

**_Abilities:_**_ Sora's skills are primarily focussed in genjutsu. _

**_Affiliation: _**_Konoha (former); unknown_

**_Further Information:_**_ Presumed to be working with Souma Abe_

**_Bounty:_**_ 25,000 ryō_

**_Bounty Notes:_**_ Must be returned alive to Konoha for bounty to be retrieved._

**_Image:_**_ A kunoichi with dark skin stands in profile for the picture. A Konoha hitai-ate sits on a slant around her arm. She has dark eyes that look out and look rather like stone than anything else. Dark hair rests around her head, curly and wispy, but kept short for the most part. The only really distinguishing feature shown is a tiny scar on the corner of her lips, almost unnoticeable._

**_Name:_**_ Souma Abe_

**_Classification:_**_ Missing-nin_

**_Rank:_**_ D-rank_

**_Abilities:_**

**_Affiliation: _**_Konoha (former); unknown_

**_Further Information:_**_ Presumed to be working with Sora Asano_

**_Bounty:_**_ 25,000 ryō_

**_Bounty Notes:_** _Must be returned alive to Konoha for bounty to be retrieved._

**_Image:_**_ A dark-skinned shinobi stares out from the page. Grey eyes that are wary and watchful seem fully focussed on the photographer behind the camera more than the camera itself. Rather tall, the key feature that stands out from the photo is the dark green hair of the ninja._

"Hey, aren't these Toru's... friends?" Naruto asks, nudging Sasuke with his elbow when glancing at Sakura's breakdown of the latest updates to the Konoha Bingo Book.

"Yeah," Sasuke agrees. "They were good. He loved being with them, loved seeing them. He met them... a few years back, when he dismantled ROOT for the first time."

"His ANBU team, do you think?" Naruto says, tilting his head. "It's a rather low bounty if it is."

"Probably because they're not really missing," Sakura says, returning from the depths of the library with two new books, _(because a teetering-tottering pile of books that's threatening to bury Naruto clearly isn't enough), _"there aren't too many rumours surrounding them but no one really thinks they went missing-nin. There's a reason why their bounty is low as fuck. From what I can gather, it's pretty well known that they were good friends with Toru, often seen training in the Uchiha Clan Compound together, so it's not a stretch to think that they went searching for him." She shrugs, "A lot of people don't really know what happened to Toru, only that the Uchiha Clan sped through changes and Itachi returned and Toru's no longer a ninja. No one's really asking questions but like… no one really knows either?"

"Toru was friendly but not friends with everyone," Naruto says, nodding his head. "Made it easy to blend into the background and be distantly remembered for all the right reasons."

Sasuke hums in thought because, well, he can't just leave everything to find Toru nor does he want to do it that way – Toru wouldn't appreciate it, at the very least. Sora and Souma were more attached to Toru than anyone else, as far as he can recall, looking first to one another and Toru, than anyone else. And, well, if they were in ANBU they probably don't have too many close friends, if any, especially as unexplained disappearances for ANBU missions make things very, very difficult, _(Sasuke might not have realised that Toru was in ANBU but looking back on it, it's fairly obvious)_.

"No idea where they went?" Sasuke asks, meeting Sakura's gaze. Sakura shakes her head, frowning, and Sasuke sighs. "We'll get there," he promises, "just got to keep searching."

_(Sasuke knows that his friends and his team will help him, and that listening for rumours is better than searching for a single person. It takes time and it's going to take even longer, but Sasuke knows they'll find Toru. He knows it.) _

Sakura and Naruto not in unison, wearing the same indecipherable expression. "Let's get back to work," Sakura offers, in the following silence, and so they return to their books.

_(What Sakura and Naruto noticed, but Sasuke didn't, is that Sasuke's promise rings with determination, with certainty, with resolve, and it very much echoes Toru when he swears something.)_

* * *

**Day 88**

Many ninjas are placed in infiltration missions. Some last for a week or a day, simply retrieving information or assassinating a target. Other missions, however, take time. They can take months of constant work, whether it's to get close to a paranoid target and act loyal to such a person or whether it's to find information and report back to the village. These long infiltration missions are often ones that require ninjas who are trained and specialise in infiltration. It's a difficult job and there are few ninjas who manage such infiltration missions successfully and are able to return to the village with minimal problems. Thankfully, there aren't too many missions that require such long and in-depth infiltration nor are there many at any point in time. They occur over years, so there isn't a large need for ninjas who specialise for such missions to remain waiting nor to train more infiltration ninjas.

Anko is trained for infiltration missions and has, from a young age, shown an ability to blend in with others in many scenarios, even if she doesn't often try to. The point is that Anko does get tapped for long infiltration missions on occasion and disappears without telling too many people, trusting that the knowledge she's on a mission is enough to persuade people not to think further. After all, infiltration ninjas need their anonymity and Anko's loud personality and brash nature, none of which is a façade of any kind, makes people pass her over.

Sometimes, the fact Anko's personality differs from any infiltration mission persona is helpful, gives her something to hold onto when she struggles to find herself back in Konoha. Other times she hates it, finds the adjust difficult, finds the switch tiresome. She's likely to be retired from infiltration missions in the next few years she knows, but that's something to deal with in the future as opposed to dealing with it right now. She wonders how switching will go now, with a student, _(she can hardly deny it now, Sakura is her student even it's not a formal membership of any kind)_, waiting for her. Except, Sakura won't be waiting but-

"I'll still be your student when you get back," Sakura says, meeting Anko's gaze evenly. "I mean, Kakashi-sensei is still my sensei even though he doesn't really instruct us anymore and we're no longer genins. And- And I'll still care for you," she emphasises, _(and Anko wonders how Sakura has managed to identify one of her main insecurities; even if they have been working together for a few months)_. "You've helped me with everything for my poison focus as well, I just have to do the tests now since you've signed off on part of the paperwork."

Anko smiles, something soft and very much not what the majority of ninjas would expect to see when they look at her, "You'll do good, Sakura-chan."

"Thanks, Anko-senpai," Sakura says, grin widening.

_(Anko sees some of herself in that grin, a good part of her, sees how Sakura will fight for herself and for her strength and for her teammates and friends and for Konoha. Sakura is dangerous with poison and occasionally Anko sees one of Sakura's friends seem surprised when Sakura proves how deadly-dangerous she can be. They don't worry for her nor are they surprised that she can be dangerous, it's more like when you're sparring with a good friend and they pull out an awesome technique you hadn't been expecting—it dares you to be better, to be more, makes you strive to defeat them. Anko sees that drive in all good ninjas—which includes Sakura and all her friends.) _

"You best get going," Sakura says at last, "you're due to leave today after all. You said that a few days ago."

Anko would bet this mission's pay, _(which should be well worth the time considering it's both an infiltration mission and goes for two months)_, that Sakura knows she's an infiltration expert, even if she hasn't said it aloud or given any obvious hints about it all. Sakura's very well connected through her friends, _(and it almost makes Anko wonder if there's something else at play her causing all this or whether it's all luck that's led to such a group of friends)_.

"Most likely," Anko replies, "I'm not your sensei after all, always running late." They're a few steps from the gates and Anko's starting to feel the need to leave, to run and push herself, which is a sensation most ninjas feel especially on long missions that requiring travelling at speed for a bit, _(when you have the ability to almost beat the wind, you normally want to try)_. "Goodbye, Sakura-chan."

"May silence haunt your footsteps," Sakura says, taking a step backwards as she gives the traditional Konoha goodbye.

"May the earth shudder beneath your feet," Anko replies and then, with a parting glance, she shoots off out into the forest, leaping towards the thick branches around the middle of the trees.

The forest is its normal quiet, with only the sounds of animals and rustling plants around. It's calming, soothing her. Most Konoha ninjas find such noises comforting, something they have all grown up with. It reminds Anko of home, of safety, even if there's still reason to be wary.

A few hours into her travel, Anko takes a rest break at the stream. She isn't really pushing herself and there's certainly no need to do so. Still, she's going to be acting as a civilian for the next two months on the mission so she's going to enjoy the last few days of quick travel and being clean. Considering everything, she'd been expecting a pretty boring run until she reached the starting destination for her mission, _(a small town that's just to give credence to her story as a civilian), _which is why she startles at the summon that appears in front of her, lying almost hidden amongst the long grass next to the river.

The summon, a rather small blue-green snake, lifts his head up to show his yellow underbelly. "Anko-san," he hisses, and Anko refuses to wince, _(but she does anyway, because this is Tarō, the first of her den, her oldest summon, who calls her Anko after two years of working together)_. The common tree snake lifts his head further, body coiling, "I have a message for you." The little snake curls his tongue and a scroll appears from his mouth.

And Anko- Anko knows there are very few people who can summon snakes. Orochimaru, _(missing-nin, traitor, murderer, sENseI)_, had been the first in decades to and he had chosen Anko to be the second, _(had trained her as a student, helped her, given her more attention than most people, and told her she was brilliant, was capable, was going to be a legend in her own right, and bEtRAyeD hEr). _Although, there may be more than just Anko now who've signed the scroll but... But Anko doesn't think there'd be more than one or two people, max. The snake contract had been something sacred to Orochimaru, something important, and he refused to trust anyone with it unless he'd chosen them.

_(Here is what Anko only learnt following her agreement with the snakes: summoning contracts handed down from teachers with clans can often mean adoption, even if such things are official, giving someone a summoning contract that you have is more than simply teaching, it's about trust, trusting the other person not do double cross you, not to ruin you. It's trust and it's dangerous and Anko had cried the day she'd learnt such things. And later, even now, had been angry-grieving-raging because it had been about trust and Orochimaru had betrayed his village.)_

_(Left her behind.)_

The point is that Anko knows there's really only one person who would contact her through summons. And... it's strange and she'd never expected such a thing. The scroll that Tarō had given to her has Orochimaru's chakra infused in it, that heavy, dark chakra that once felt like comfort and safety to Anko, _(and she doesn't know what to feel now, is too twisted in her thoughts and feelings, caught and trapped, uncertain and unsure)_. She should give the scroll to the Hokage, should alert Konoha, should do something. But-

But Orochimaru had taken an orphan and given her a parent and Anko is loyal to the village. She is! And the village has scorned her and kept her at arm's length and maybe that has improved recently and Anko loves Konoha, loves the people in it, even with how awful they can be. So... So if the scroll is dangerous, if it gives away anything, Anko will hand it in. But, it's for her, and her summons—while they technically answer to Orochimaru first since his name is first on the contract—they wouldn't harm her. She might not summon them much, _(too many memories of happiness layered over with the horror stemming from Orochimaru's betrayal)_, but they are still summons and summoner. Their oath still stands.

Anko opens the scroll.

**_Anko,_**

**_You have likely wondered about the events of the day you cannot remember, the day I left Konoha. In short, I asked you to come with me and you said no. You had been my first student and, as such, you know that I do not kill without reason (for given meaning of reason) nor do I give in to my emotions as such things often interfere with seeing everything clearly. However, you refused to come and I left you alive whether out of sentiment or because there was no reason, I am not sure. I fear it is the former, even if I have told myself the latter many times over the years, when I remembered how well you knew me, how it is likely you could make sense of my movements and actions when even my teammates and my sensei might fail. Well, you are still alive so you can likely guess that I despite it all, I could never bring myself to kill you or order your death. _**

**_Whether or not you made the right decision is not in question here. You made the decision that you thought was right, and for you it might have been. I have perhaps made things harder for you in Konoha, but Konoha is your home and I am starting to understand why you would defend it, why you would stay. All I had connecting me to Konoha was two teammates, who had abandoned Konoha and me without warning and without word, and a teacher who was distant more than anything else. Not all was right, with myself and with Konoha, but... I am seeing things differently now. I have found help I never would have received in Konoha from a strange source and I am starting to understand the importance of emotions and knowing yourself a bit more now._**

**_Regardless, this message is not to apologise for my actions nor remind you what yours were. This message is simply a reminder that you were trained by a sannin and need not continue hiding from who you are and who you could be. You were my first student and I do not take students lightly. The world is changing Anko and we all change with it, but this remains the same: you are brilliant, student of mine, and you are a legend whether the words ring from the sky or not. _**

**_Anko Mitarashi is welcome in Otogakure, but Konoha is not—not yet, at the very least. Decide where your lines are and stand by them. Take care, student of mine._**

**_Orochimaru_**

Anko's hands shake and the scroll shakes with them. She hadn't realised how much of her grief and rage had hinged on Orochimaru leaving her behind but- but if, like Orochimaru says, she hadn't been left behind but had chosen to remain and Orochimaru had granted her that choice... It changes things. Not a lot, but it does change things. And the invitation to Otogakure, as herself rather than a Konoha ninja, is something else entirely. She won't accept, can't accept, both because she is a Konoha ninja and she can't quite accept Orochimaru's word just yet.

Orochimaru sounds calm, sounds almost happy, content at the very least. And... Anko rarely remembers him seeming content in Konoha and she knows that without his teammates and without his teacher, Orochimaru had been untethered and wrong-footed. It's strange to be able to look back at such times with the knowledge from her present.

Tarō hisses, drawing Anko's attention back to him. The little snake is a message, as is his greeting. He's angry, hence Anko-san, but he's here—a common tree snake that has no venom, and that too is important. The snakes aren't happy with her but they don't want her death, aren't angry at her, just a little bit resentful, perhaps. "Tarō-san," Anko starts, only to pause, "I apologise for not calling on you more."

The lines of Tarō's body soften somehow, and the snake inclines his head. Tarō isn't made for fighting or for danger really, but he's a good conversation partner and had kept Anko sane on those first few, long infiltration missions when she'd been much, much younger. "We are your summons," he reminds her. "You should be in contact more."

And, well, Anko can't quite change the past, but she can make amends for it, so she extends her arm to Tarō, who carefully and eagerly makes his way up her arm to rest over her shoulders. "I'm on an infiltration mission as a civilian," Anko explains. "So you'll have to be in hiding more often than not, but do you want to come with me?"

Tarō hisses, eyes wide, and is clearly eager more than anything else, _(and perhaps he, like Anko, misses his partner and it really has been too long)_, "Lead on."

* * *

**Day 90**

Sakura's recently learnt, mainly through Anko than anyone else, that apprenticeships and mentorships are only two types of teachers a ninja can have. The former refers to learning a specific trade or skill set, such as tracking, or being taking up a learning role in a department. The latter refers to learning various skills that aren't focussed on the one area, similar to what a jōnin instructor does for their genins, although it applied to chūnins. Naturally, jōnin instructors are another type of teacher altogether, but as Sakura isn't a jōnin nor a genin, she doesn't have to worry about the paperwork for such things, although they're mainly run through the Genin Corps and the Ninja Academy. Now, Anko teaching Sakura hadn't been anything formalised by paperwork, but it had been an informal mentorship for the most part—which is how various chūnins picked up new tricks and skills. Otherwise, it's through training and research that anyone learnt new things.

However, with Anko gone, Sakura needs to find another teacher—but this time she has _plans_. She hadn't planned on learning from Anko until she'd seen how awesome Anko is and, following that, the older kunoichi focussed on helping her with her poisons more than anything else. And now that Sakura has her iryō ninjutsu focus, there's a bit of a question where she wants to go with it. After all, she has a broad understanding of most areas and can act as a general medic-nin if needed, but anything that requires specialisation or in-depth knowledge of a specific injury or organ is currently outside of her abilities.

But Sakura wants to get better. More than that, she's evolved her dream somewhat, _(Academy children, in the end, lack the experience to truly understand what's needed to reach the goals they desire and, sometimes, they underestimate themselves)_, because she will be known for her medical techniques being used in battle—that's pretty much a given—but she wants to be able to heal when needed as well. Heal anything and anyone. She doesn't want to be limited to specialisation. If she manages to broaden her horizons and be able to undertake various surgeries and heal injuries that would require multiple specialisations—that's all the better for her, her friends, and her team.

Unfortunately, there are very, very few ninjas who manage such paths. In fact, there's only ever been one in history—Konoha's Godaime Hokage. Who, Sakura assumes, has many people ask for a formal mentorship or apprenticeship. Sakura isn't after the fame that might come from being the Hokage's student nor the borderline impossible strength that Tsunade's well known for. No, Sakura's after the knowledge of healing and doing so in the middle of combat.

Sakura doesn't want to end up working in the hospital nor does she have any desire to take it over, _(although, if she puts her mind to it there's probably a good chance she could do so before she's thirty, maybe)_. She's going to take part in missions until she's hold enough that she has to retire. And then, well, then she's not sure what she might do. Maybe then she'll turn her focus to the hospital where she can still help without being in active danger that her body can no longer keep up with.

Such things, however, are future problems and therefore don't need to be thought about currently. Instead, she should be focussing on what is very likely to be an anxiety-producing meeting with the Hokage. She has three letters of recommendation—one from Kakashi, one from Anko, and one from her main supervisor from the hospital. All three encourage Tsunade to, at the very least, consider giving her some direction in figuring how to specialise in various areas as a medic.

The Hokage's receptionist exits Tsunade's office and waves Sakura in with a smile. She smiles back before entering. Tsunade is sitting at her desk, paperwork in front of her, and glances at Sakura the moment she enters.

"Yes?" Tsunade asks.

Sakura drops into a small bow. "Hello, Hokage-sama," she says, _(and her hands feel sweaty from where they're pressed together behind her back)_, "I'm Sakura Haruno and I organised a meeting with you to discuss a potential mentorship." She brings out the three letters of recommendation. "These are from two of my teachers and my supervisor in the hospital."

Tsunade takes the letters and places them on her desk, smoothing the paper absent mindfully as she does so. "What makes you so different from the multitude of others who have asked for the same thing and filed the same paperwork?"

"I can't say," Sakura answers and takes care to meet Tsunade's gaze evenly. "I don't know who those others were. However, I'm not after any secrets that you may have as a sannin or any of your main famous skills. More than anything else, I want to learn how to be a better medic-nin. I'm currently suitable for many injuries and have received a focus in iryō ninjutsu, with an upcoming performance and test to showcase my potential for a poison focus soon as well. However, I lack the specialisations needed to deal with debilitating injuries or injuries that require specialist knowledge which could be useful in Konoha but also out in the field. The various specialists I've spoken to at the hospital have recommended that I find a suitable teacher for various specialisations, since it can take years to fully complete a specialisation. My supervisor was the one who said to talk to you about a mentorship. And they were right to do so, you are the best. And even if you do say no, at the very least, you could point me in the right direction."

Tsunade folds her hands and stares at Sakura, _(scrutinises her and Sakura wonders what she sees; what she'd expected to see)_. "Very well," she says, and Sakura clamps down the joy that leaps up in her, because that hadn't been a confirmation that she'd agree to teaching her. "I'm a very busy woman, Haruno, as I serve Konoha as its Godaime Hokage. I will not have time to successfully teach you and continue leading a village. A lot of what you require is knowledge and the ability to talk it over with someone. Regardless, I will help you to the best of my capabilities without ignoring my role in this village. You will be secondary, at best, to many matters. Is this acceptable?"

Sakura bows again, this time lower. "Yes, Hokage-sama," and some of the excitement she'd tried to conceal slipped out with her words, and Tsunade gives her a smile.

"My assistant, and student for quite some time now, will be your first point of contact and will be able to teach you for the most part. She's secondary only to me." Tsunade raises her voice, "Shizune!"

A kunoichi enters, one that Sakura's seen around Konoha quite often, usually bustling around like she has somewhere important to be and needed to be there three days ago. "Tsunade-sama?"

"This is Sakura Haruno, to learn various specialisations under both of us. Take the rest of the day off after you complete the paperwork, yeah?" Tsunade says.

Shizune narrows her eyes. "You better get work done! I'll set Iruka-san on you."

"Bah," Tsunade says, "I'll do what I want."

And, somehow, Sakura manages to come out with a mentorship to two different ninjas. When she tells the story to her teammates, they just laugh at her and wish her luck, _(and then help her find all the books in the library she needs, so she can't be too irritated with them)_.

It's been ninety days since Toru left Konoha.

* * *

**Time continues to pass, as it tends to. Ninjas are added to the Bingo Book and ninjas find teachers, in various different ways.**

* * *

_**How did you enjoy this chapter? There was definitely a few massive references back to Toru and what he's doing over in Uzushio (or had been doing, as may be the case).**_

_**I chucked in a mission report as a way to show how some time was wasted and this replaced one of the filler missions that happened in canon and was much better to write.**_

_**We see the Rookie 9 again because why not? They deserve some love. What is Shika is actually Ino which ended up surprising me but like... it fits, so muhc. And there's just me casually showing how these guys are still kids and also ninjas. It's a wild juxtaposition that works quite well to be honest.**_

_**Sora and Souma were Toru's ANBU buddies who went looking for him and then... just never came back. However, because they just disappeared and didn't make a name for themselves, Tsunade didn't think it was a lot to worry about hence the low rank despite being in ANBU.**_

_**Sasuke talking about Toru's friends and saying 'they were good' is so, so, so important. It's Sasuke after all. Sasuke who sees the worst in people first for the most part but trusted these people with Toru's safety and mentality and comfort. They were good he says because Toru loved them and that's all there is to it.**_

_**Anko! She is an awesome, badass kunoichi. And we come to her summons, see her summons bringing a mesage from Orochimaru. (Please search up blue Australian tree snake because they are adorable even if you hate snakes, as Pearl can confirm because I sent her multiple images on snakes when I was doing some googling for this chapter.**_

_**I'm trying to stay true to Orochimaru's character here but he also has changed because, well, worlds are changing, haven't you heard? (It's Uzushio in the background, hidden, but there and changing worlds).**_

_**Sakura receives some more training and we will see even more changes in the next chapter. Anko didn't mean to take up like half this chapter but she did. Sasuke's section just keeps fucking expanding and I was planning to try and hit Uzushio writing by the end of this month (being Feb) and leaving that writing for when I'm dead with uni work and work work and sports.**_

_**Anyway, you can find me on tumblr (I'm silent-silver-slip) and send me an ask or something. Or just talk. I figured out how to get links on here so you're all going to deal with that now. I don't have many updates about my writing, both fanfic and originals, largely because I assume no followers really care but I'm willing to do all the rambling on there about world building and explanations and AU ideas and future thoughts and whatnot. Enjoy your day everyone!**_


	8. Part 1: Leal

_**Revie****w**** Responses:**_

_ Night/LadyMidnightBat Thanks for letting me know about the change in name! It's good to hear from you. _

_ Xcutioner Thank you for the review! I hope this chapter is able to satisfy you._

_ TigrezzTail I will be honest, I don't remember much about writing these Konoha chapters because it happened a few months back. I swear, I flew through them to reach Toru's part (and now that I'm there, I'm writing so slowly, but that might just be this week's assignments and workload trying to stop me; although, I am procrastinating enough that I probably do have time to write). I'm glad that the fillers aren't too bad! I do worry about such things, but there's so much character development going on and quite a few background points that must be made. _

_ Shy911 You're definitely on the right track! And it would be good for both of them, you're absolutely right. _

* * *

**Day 101**

Outside the Hokage's office, Naruto rocks back and forth on his heels, energy welling up inside of him. "You know," Sasuke says slowly, glancing at Naruto and Sakura, "most people would probably be a little bit nervous when called to the Hokage's office without warning and not for a mission."

Naruto pulls a face. "People are boring," he says. "Besides, we _know_ the Hokage. It's not going to be anything bad."

From her seat where she's reading, Sakura actually looks up before sealing the medical text away in a scroll. She raises an eyebrow.

"Probably not going to be anything bad," Naruto amends. "The worst she does is throw something at us. We can duck!"

"Only if she lets us," Sasuke replies just before they're called into the office.

They're not there in any official capacity so they're dressed down for the most part, wearing training clothes for the most part. Overall, they could look quite a bit worst so Sasuke isn't too worried with their appearance. At least Sakura and him managed to get Naruto to leave his monstrous orange jumper, woollen and bought from an op-shop with a wonky collar and a sleeve that's a good bit longer than the other, behind. Sasuke refuses to let that thing out of the house unless he gets to burn it but Naruto refuses. They've been at stalemate about it for a few months now.

"Good afternoon, Tsunade-sama," Sakura says, which both Naruto and Sasuke echo before dipping into a bow. "You called for us?" Her eyes flicker to the person on Tsunade's left—Jiraiya.

Both Sasuke and Sakura resent him and will probably continue to bare a grudge against him for quite some time, after what he did to Naruto, _(which was nothing and that's the exact problem)_. Naruto, on the other hand, has found his resentment of Jiraiya lessening somewhat. He hasn't forgiven Jiraiya, and probably won't for quite some time, but he doesn't outright hate him, _(and that's got nothing to do with what Jiraiya's done and all to do with who Naruto is)_.

"Yes," Tsunade says before activating privacy seals with a flicker of chakra. The wards buzz, momentarily, obvious enough that anyone who can sense a small bit of chakra can feel it. Strangely enough, Sasuke reckons they feel weaker than the privacy seals back home but, then again, the seals are quite old. Maybe they deteriorated?

"Kakashi has been alerted to the problem and will be properly briefed when he returns from his A-rank mission," Tsunade begins with. "But firstly, all of you, this information is not to leave this room unless either I or my successor expressly order it. Understood?"

Sasuke nods and wonders what they're about to learn. It's likely to have something to do with one of them. After all, they've got nothing really special about them skill-wise, but their positions and who they are—on the other hand—are rather important.

"Naruto is the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi," Tsunade says, watching the two chūnins who shouldn't know for their reaction. She pauses but the two don't react. Scowling, she says, "Did Naruto already tell you this? That's an S-rank secret brat!"

Both Sakura and Sasuke have an oh shit moment before hurriedly attempting to fix their failure to react in surprise, _(and if such things are meant to be quiet, they won't mention all the others who know)_. "It's not like the secret's very hard to figure out yourself," Sasuke says, voice full of scorn, and he leans on the anger at Naruto being left alone, his contempt for the Sandaime at letting such an open secret exist and not dealing with the problems that arose from it. "I mean, he's born on the tenth of October and before he lived with us, a lot of people called him a demon of some description."

"It kind of helped that he transformed into the Kyūbi when Oto and Suna attacked," Sakura adds, and Sasuke feels a flash of gratitude for her, covering his back as they both cover Naruto's. "Plus, there are various mentions of jinchūrikis in history but also in the Bingo Books of various countries."

"Hmmph," Tsunade says. "Very well, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt brats, but if I hear anyone else knows who shouldn't, you're going to be completing D-ranks until you're thirty. You hear me?"

Naruto gulps and nods quickly.

"Good. We'll move onto the main point of this meeting then. Have you heard of an organisation called Akatsuki?" Tsunade asks.

"That… sounds familiar," Naruto admits, narrowing his eyes in thought before looking at his teammates to see if they had any ideas. But the pair have nothing to offer, so instead Jiraiya jumps in.

"They were after you when we were tracking Tsunade," he says. "Older Uchiha was part of it, mainly as a spy."

"It's not like they told me they were in it," Naruto says. "But Itachi mentioned it, maybe. A lot happened during that time."

"That it did," Jiraiya acquiesces. "Akatsuki are a criminal organisation containing at least eleven known S-rank missing-nins. We have more information thanks to Uchiha's reports and debriefing when he returned to Konoha. Their goal is to nab the jinchūrikis. What this is for, though, we don't quite know. Even Uchiha didn't manage to get that much information."

"In short," Tsunade concludes, "you're a target, Naruto. Itachi proved that Konoha's forces can't necessarily withstand a stealth operation into Konoha, even if no longer operates as part of Akatsuki. We could, technically, put you under watch but we aren't sure how long it could take to ensure your safety and I doubt you'd want to be village-bound for what would be months, minimum, and years at worst."

Naruto swallows and holds his teammates' hands, squeezing tightly. "No," he somehow manages to say, voice surprisingly steady for how tight his throat feels. "No, I wouldn't."

Tsunade nods, as if such agreement is a forgone conclusion which, really, it is. She knows him after all.

"We've decided that you can train with Jiraiya," Tsunade continues. "Primarily to learn how to control the Kyūbi's chakra since Jiraiya is a seal master."

_(Naruto wants to protest, wants to say he can't do that, wants to say he already knows a seal master. But Toru has been gone for quite some time now and Naruto can't go against the orders of his leader, even if he doesn't want to leave Sakura or Sasuke behind.)_

_(At the very least, Naruto isn't starting from scratch nor is he alone. He has the Kyūbi and they're talking, even if it's sometimes just Naruto who's doing the talking.) _

"Right," Naruto says. "Can- Is there any way to keep in contact with my teammates?"

Something in Tsunade's bearing softens, _(and she had been on a team, once, with two others who'd been all she needed in life once upon a time; they're separated now, through choice and betrayal and grief, but they'd been legendary for their teamwork once, even if it was a long, long time ago). _"I think we can manage such a thing," she says, exchanging a glance with Jiraiya. "But you can't disclose your location or give away any important information as the messages may be taken by enemy forces during transmission."

Breathing in, Naruto centres himself and nods. "I can do that," he says. "When am I to leave, Tsunade-sama?"

"You have four days to organise everything," Tsunade answers, very much the Hokage she is. "Your mission is to be kept quiet with no one knowing where you're going or who you're going with aside from the people in this room and Kakashi Hatake. It is not known when you'll be back. Good luck, chūnin. Dismissed, all of you."

The trio of chūnins bow and leave without another word, _(and Tsunade hopes this won't be the end of another team that could be famous for their teamwork, could be legends in their own right)_.

* * *

**Day 108**

Naruto had travelled with Jiraiya before, but that had been with a goal at the end of their journey—Tsunade. This time they aren't travelling quickly towards a set destination. There's no sense of urgency resting on their shoulders. And, well, Naruto's quickly becoming bored. Jiraiya seems to think walking is a good way to get anyway, like they aren't ninjas. Then again, Jiraiya's apparently going to teach him more than just how to work with the Kyūbi's chakra, _(Naruto's not quite sure how to mention he refuses to do that and has quietly decided to shelve that conversation for another day and deal with it later), _such as information gathering through infiltration.

Except, they're not going to do anything really, really interesting, which sucks. Jiraiya says they're going to ensure there's twenty klicks between them and the closest hidden village, sans Konoha, at all times. However, the sannin has also told Naruto that they will leave Hi no Kuni's borders when he reckons Naruto is up to it. Which is awesome! He's rarely been places outside of Hi no Kuni aside from a few missions. Genins, even with badass teachers like Kakashi-sensei, can only go so far from Hi no Kuni's borders with little experience and the same goes for chūnins.

He'd started off with a fairly optimistic outlook but after the first few days, that optimism and energy had faded. They moved so _slowly _and he's got almost nothing to do while working and Jiraiya offers the worst kind of advice. He says _words_. Things like 'that's close! Just control your chakra a bit more and ensure the resonance is there' and Naruto has no idea what the latter bit means and his teammates aren't here to help him nor is Iruka-sensei. And he doesn't quite feel like asking Jiraiya and making a fool of himself, _(and, over the years, Naruto's started realising that he can ask questions and people won't judge him, that he won't just get told off or ignored, but sometimes- sometimes it feels like they will)_.

_(Jiraiya is his godfather and did nothing for him and there's something awful in Naruto, bitter and resentful and he hates it but he can't change how he feels. He doesn't know if he wants to just yet.)_

But, well, it's been a few days since they left Konoha behind them, _(left Sasuke and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei and everyone else)_, and Naruto's wondering how the message system is going to work. So he asks, because that's not a dumb question and if it's going to take time to figure out, Naruto wants to get started on it as soon as possible.

"Through summons," Jiraiya asks as they huddle beneath a tree as rain pours around them and continous thunder rumbles overheard, _(yeah, Naruto's definitely not feeling energetic or optimistic about this trip because this weather sucks)_. "I imagine you don't have any summons of your own?"

He shakes his head, sending water droplets flying. "Nope! Toru had cockroaches and Kakashi-sensei has his ninken but I don't have any."

Jiraiya's expression twists before smoothing out and Naruto doesn't know the man well enough to understand the emotions that played across his face. "I hold a contract with the toads of Mount Myōboku," he explains. "They'd be willing to take messages to Konoha from us and vice versa. _But_, I was thinking you could sign the contract and then summon them yourself."

_(Naruto isn't a complete idiot so he hears the hidden words. He understands that this is something Jiraiya wants to pass down to him and, well, he is technically family. More importantly, though, it's a way to keep in contact with everyone back home. Besides, he knows that he can make any technique his own. Just because Jiraiya gives him something or teaches him something—it doesn't have to always hold that connection. It can be Naruto's with time.)_

"Alright," Naruto says. "That sounds good. When can we start?"

Lightning flashes in the distance.

"This storm might last for quite a bit of time," Jiraiya muses. "So we could start now or we could go out in the storm and find the closest town, which should be about ten klicks from our position as the crow flies." Naruto takes that to mean the closest town is, at most, fifteen kilometres away which, at a slightly slower running speed, _(you really don't want to go full pace through tree branches when it's soaked and also lightning is a thing so you don't want to go too high either)_, isn't too bad.

He glances out from beneath their shelter at the rain that seems to be coming down harder. "I'm happy to start now," he decides.

Jiraiya pulls the scroll off of his back and unseals another scroll from within it. From a quick glance, the first scroll is a mass storage scroll that contains multiple different storage seals to separate various items. He's seen a few scrolls like it—Toru had one and he'd seen some in shops, _(they had been very expensive but they'd also been gorgeous and he doesn't even study seals)_. "This is the contract I have with the toads," Jiraiya explains. "There's only one summoning scroll and I've been trusted with it as the only alive summoner."

"How does it all work?" Naruto asks, interrupting Jiraiya. "I mean, if we both summon them at the same time, who'd they answer to first?"

"As the primary summoner, I'm the one they'd answer to first. However, the toads that we summon the most may be different. There are quite a number of toads who we could potentially summon, but you'll most likely pick a few to work with who will be your main summons," Jiraiya explains. "The only one who we're likely to both summon is Gamabunta who is the leader of all the toad. To maintain a summoning contract with the toads, you have to have Gamabunta's respect which is earned the first time you summon him."

"Alright," Naruto says, cracking his neck. "Do I just sign this scroll then?"

"Yep, it has to be in blood though."

Naruto frowns at that, but then it makes sense, somewhat. Blood is sacrifice more often and maybe it has to do with blood seals. It is a contract, after all. He bites the tip of his finger and signs his name. Once he's done, the blood fades from bright red and becomes the dark colour of dry blood.

"Just go through the hand seals for the summoning," Jiraiya demonstrates, "while channeling chakra."

After nodding, Naruto breathes in and carefully breathes out. His chakra stirs at his intent, ready to take action, and his heart beats rapidly as adrenaline surges. He goes through the hand seals slowly, wanting to get it perfect the first time around. A tug in his gut signifies the chakra pull from the jutsu, but it doesn't really feel like it takes that much chakra. Since Jiraiya hadn't mentioned a chakra requirement, Naruto's content to let the jutsu take however much it thinks is necessary rather than controlling it. Considering how he hasn't really used his chakra today, it probably won't scrap the bottom of his reserves, _(a lot of the adults in Naruto's life have told him that he can probably use quite chakra intensive techniques when he has the control for it, which means Naruto can pretty much use any technique)_.

A puff of smoke appears in front of Naruto, swirling up from the ground. He looks down to see a- a tadpole. Jiraiya bursts out laughing, bending over to wheeze, and Naruto scowls, kicking out at the man who easily dodges, which Naruto had kind of expected. "Oi! How do I send it back?"

"They," Jiraiya pauses to wheeze, "ca- can dismiss themselves."

This is proved true when the summon disappears seconds later. "Wasn't a toad meant to appear, Ero-sennin?" Naruto accuses.

"It needs a lot more chakra," Jiraiya says, finally managing to stand up properly again. "The amount of chakra generally dictates the strength of the summon unless you call for a specific summon, which is rude to do unless you have an agreement with that summon."

"How much chakra should I be using then?" Naruto asks and if he didn't have as good chakra control as he does, this would probably be much more of a struggle. But he's aware of his chakra and can influence it to affect a jutsu if needed. It's taken eons to get up to this point, but he can do it.

Jiraiya shrugs. "Gamabunta requires a lot of chakra, even for you, but smaller toads don't take too much. You'll have to figure it out yourself. You know your reserves, not me."

And, well, Naruto wants to have Gamabunta's respect so that he can send messages, which means he should summon Gamabunta first. Going through the hand seals slightly faster, Naruto pulls on his chakra and forces three-quarters of it into the technique. The world around him is suddenly covered in smoke and the forest ground is left behind as Naruto finds purchase on something else entirely. "Who dares summon the great Gambunta?"

Standing on the toad's back, Naruto quickly moves onto a tree that stands in front of Gamabunta and is tall enough to do so. "It was me! Naruto Uzumaki, believe it!" He shouts, staring the toad in the eye.

Gamabunta stares back and seems, Naruto would guess, slightly astounded. He's not sure why. Actually, he has a semblance of an idea because summoning Gamabunta took a lot more chakra than an ordinary ninja has except, maybe, Hokage-level ninjas. And he's just a chūnin—and an inexperienced one at that.

"Uzumaki, huh? I am Gamabunta! Chief toad of the Mount Myōboku toads. To be our summoner you have to prove yourself to me!"

The toad is speaking loud enough that he's sending blasts of wind roaring at Naruto, but Naruto doesn't move thanks to the chakra cementing his feet to the tree branch he stands on. "You bet I will!" Naruto shouts back. "I can handle anything you throw at me!"

The giant toad guffaws and Naruto scowls in response. "Very well then. If you wish to earn my respect, you must remain on my back until night falls!"

It's an awful task and a dangerous one. Not only is the rain still pouring down and making everything wet and slippery, but there's the lightning and strong winds to contend with. Still... "I'll do it! I won't back down!" Naruto shouts before leaping onto Gamabunta's back. The toad leaps up vertically almost the second Naruto lands on his back. He slides backwards, tumbling onto his hands and knees, but a second to think lets him channel chakra to them and then he's sticking to the toad's back.

* * *

**Day 109**

"Sakura!"

The shout has Sakura turning looking for Sasuke since she'd heard his voice. She'd just been leaving the hospital after a shift and is planning to spend the rest of the day—all two hours before the sun sets—shopping for supplies that she's low in. Plus, the groceries since that's her task this week barring mission emergencies.

She spots Sasuke sprinting around a building out of an alleyway that she'd thought was a dead end. Apparently it isn't, or Sasuke had just dropped down from the rooftops. Both options are a possibility. Gripped in his hand is what looks like a rather crushed note.

"From Naruto?" She asks in a low voice.

Sasuke nods and unfolds it with careful movements. "I received it about two minutes ago," he says. "There's a toad back home waiting for us so we can send a response. Takuma stayed with it since she's still sleeping off yesterday's healing session after our spar with Kiba."

"It was a good spar," Sakura offers, "but, I mean, Kiba has been working with his ninken for quite a bit longer than you have and he has specialised jutsus to use with Kiba."

Sasuke hums. He doesn't mind too much especially as Kiba is a good fighter and they'd been focussing on taijutsu. For the most part, the fight had been against him. "I spoke with Kakashi-sensei about working on ninken fighting," he says. "Kakashi-sensei said that he'd look into something and get back to me."

"The Hatake Clan aren't as well known for fighting with ninkens," Sakura offers, "but Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha and Kakashi-sensei's father I think, summoned wolves although it wasn't what he was known for in the end. But the Hatake Clan does have a tendency towards using canine summons so maybe Kakashi-sensei learnt from his pack?"

Shrugging, Sasuke passes the message to Sakura. "Not terribly important right now," he points out. "We need to figure out a way to send messages to Naruto even without the toads."

"Did you ask how the toads find Naruto return the message?" Sakura asks.

Sasuke nods. "Yeah, apparently Naruto got himself summons and they can find him by chakra as a result."

Sakura glances down at the letter which has an attempted drawing of a toad down the bottom, or – at least – she assumes it's meant to be a toad and, if you close one-eye and squint, it almost looks like one.

**_Dear Sasuke and Sakura,_**

**_I hope you guys are doing well! It's been rather boring without you guys and Ero-sennin isn't a fantastic teacher. But maybe that's because I'm used to Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei who are the best! The toad who brought the message to you is Tsubasa! She's a messager frog from Mount Myōboku and one of my summons! It took some time to summon her because the amount of chakra you use dictates who you summon and, well, I'm sure you can imagine that I struggled figuring out the amount of chakra to channel._**

**_The strangest part of learning to summon was getting the chief toad's respect, I reckon. Did you guys get that really bad storm? We had it yesterday and were stuck under a tree originally since Ero-sennin seems to think walking is a great way to get everywhere. Anyway! It was during that storm that I learnt to summon because I was bored. After summoning the chief toad, who's called Gamabunta and pretty cool, I had to stick on his back with chakra until night fell which took like four hours. _**

**_You'd think it'd be boring right? Wrong! 'Cause of the storm it was raining really heavily and it was a struggle. Not to mention, Gamabunta seemed to enjoy seeing how high he could leap. I don't think he meant to but lightning came towards us at one point! Gamabunta dodged it which was good because I'm not sure if you can redirect lightning. Sasuke, you should look into that! Lightning's your chakra affinity after all. _**

**_Other than that, nothing really interesting is going on. How are you guys? Is Iruka-sensei starting to go insane from preparing for school starting up again? Is Kakashi-sensei back from his mission yet? What's everyone up to? I miss you guys so, so much. So message me soon! Tsubasa said she'd wait for a return message and then I can respond to you after! It's really neat that she can track me by chakra because I signed the summoning contract. If you show her how to get into our house, she'll leave a message behind so even if you aren't in, I'll be able to get you a message! _**

**_Or you guys could learn summoning? But I'm not sure how they'd track me. I hadn't thought that far ahead, but surely there's a way to do so? Talk to Kakashi-sensei about it! _**

**_Make sure to tell me how you both are, and Iruka-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei, and Takuma, and even Itachi. Look after yourselves!_**

**_Love youuuuuu,_**

**_Naruto_**

**_P.S. Do you like the toad I tried to draw? It's meant to be Tsubasa but I'm apparently awful at drawing. _**

"Well," Sakura says, once they've both finished reading the message, "Do you want to ask Kakashi-sensei about summoning or should I?"

Sasuke shrugs. "I can ask but you can be there at the same time. It'll come in handy for us both to have summons. Do you know if anyone else is planning to get summons?" And he has an idea that Sakura would know best because she's better friends with Ino and Ino seems to know all the rumours, _(which probably comes from being on a team with Shikamaru)_.

"I'm not sure," Sakura says slowly. "I haven't heard anyone mention it, but – on the other hand – it might just be nobody's thought about it. It's not like summons are easy to get." He hums in agreement. Following the massacre, Toru had found references to summoning contracts that the Uchiha Clan had seemed to pass down – one for cats and one for crows. They hadn't found either contract, but Toru hadn't been concerned so Sasuke had assumed such things were normal.

"The Uchiha Clan had summons," he says and he knows, _knows,_ Sakura will understand what he means and what the lack of follow up means. "We should respond," he says at last, turning his attention to the reason why he found Sakura. He grimaces. "It's going to be a long message, isn't it?"

Sakura grins, sharp and kunoichi-like. "I'll write the message out if you get the groceries today."

It's not the worst thing that Sasuke's agreed to but he would appreciate not writing out a message especially as Naruto seems to want updates on everyone, _(and maybe it's only been a few days but Sasuke can't say he wouldn't want to know if he was in Naruto's position)_. "Deal," he says, shaking her hand.

* * *

**Day 110**

**_Dear Naruto,_**

**_We're glad to hear from you even if it hasn't been that long. I'm writing the message since Sasuke's too lazy to do so, (although he denies the truth of this statement) but I did get out of grocery shopping so I can't say I'm complaining. _**

**_Congratulations on getting a summoning contract! Sasuke and I will try to follow in your footsteps, but it's going to take some time since we need to speak with Kakashi-sensei over it as neither of us have contracts we can sign first. We'll probably do what Toru apparently did when he was getting his summoning contract, Sasuke says you should know what he means by that? Or you could ask your travel-mate, since he can make sense of that apparently. _**

**_Tsubasa was very nice and we've shown her how to enter and exit easily by tying her into the wards. You shouldn't attempt drawing again, though. Your toad appeared something that only looked vaguely like a toad. Please appreciate the doodles below from both Sasuke and I. I did the sketch of the body simply because medical research tends to lend itself to being able to draw a body diagram very well (I can also label it since—according to Shizune-sensei—I should be able to do that in my sleep. Irritatingly, Sasuke's sketch of Takuma actually came up really well and I'm jealous of his prowess. I'm blaming the Sharingan. It makes total sense, after all. _**

**_We did have the storm you mentioned! Although, the worst of it passed east of us so we just had the fringes, but it was still quite the downpour and lightning flashed in the distance. The worst of it was the thunder, for the most part, which managed to scar Aki when we had one loud boom (which also might have been the tree down the road falling over in the winds; we're not sure). _**

**_Anyway, onto your desired updates on everyone. I'm doing well! Just tired, as I'm sure you can imagine, from pulling my shifts at the hospital. Sasuke's the same, primarily focussing on working with our other friends to improve his fighting capabilities with Takuma. Takuma's back to work again. He was off for a bit after an injury from Akamaru and Kiba during a spar—not anything major, but it required some in-depth healing so the exhaustion from that was felt for the rest of the day. Iruka-sensei has dropped in on us a few times. Perhaps write to him yourself? Sasuke's managed to force him to spend dinner with us, but he's missing you as much as the rest of us. Kakashi-sensei is back in town and this time he's on a break because of all the missions he's taken recently. Sasuke and I plan to ask him tomorrow about summoning, so I'm sure you'll be hearing from us soon! Itachi's doing alright, even if he's struggling to connect with people. He's rather awkward and doesn't often go outside the Uchiha Clan Compound and our house, unless he's heading to therapy. Thankfully, the residents of the compound are doing their best to sink their claws into him and provide him with comfort and friends (he got stuck babysitting the other day when we were training and seemed happy, albeit a bit unsure of what he was meant to be doing). _**

**_Everyone else is training and going on missions and pretty much doing our usual. Not much has changed since you left, which makes sense when you consider it hasn't really been that long at all. _**

**_We wish you the best and miss you as well! I reckon we should set up a schedule for letters—try to write once a week, perhaps? What do you think? _**

**_Love,_**

**_Sakura and Sasuke_**

It's been one-hundred-and-ten days since Toru left Konoha.

* * *

**Naruto is ordered to go with Jiraya by the Hokage and learn how to use the Kyūbi's chakra. He might just be keeping it a secret that he refuses to learn such things. However, that's not the only thing he's learning how to do. After a storm and quite a few adrenaline rushes, Naruto finds himself capable of summoning toads and then sends a message to his teammates back in Konoha, who are quick to respond.**

* * *

_**This chapter isn't meant to be this long. I planned to have the summons in this chapter as well but the world spited me (I spited me really).**_

_**There's not too much to say as a result of everything to be honest. Naruto gets summons and sends messages to his team, his team respond and plan to get their own summons. I remain confused as to how this chapter got to be 5000 words on this alone.**_

_**I don't have much to say, so I'll just leave it here.**_


	9. Part 1: Pack

**Day 111**

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke says, once they've finished their normal warmups for training. "Can you teach us summoning by any chance? We want to be able to send messages to Naruto and it isn't fair to just rely on his summons."

Kakashi hums, glancing over at them, and then to where his ninken are lying in a pile with Takuma. "They might not be able to find Naruto easily," he warns, "but I'm willing to teach you." He hesitates, uncertainty flashing across his face, before he steadies himself and the uncertainty disappears as if it was never there. "In fact, I'd planned to offer you the Hatake Clan summoning contract, if you wanted. Naruto can't anymore, since he signed on with the toads, but you two still have the option. It's for canines, not just ninken."

_(Sakura knows what this means, knows the kind of unofficial adoption this would merit and Sasuke knows the same. It means even more when Kakashi's the last of his clan. It means they will be his clan's legacy and will carry the name and skills with them, eventually passing them on to their own students.)_

However, Sakura's fighting style doesn't apply itself well with canines. And, considering she's worked with quite a few teammates who have ninken, she's fairly certain of that. She's about preciseness and measured strength, poisons and medical ninjutsu. "It doesn't quite work with my fighting style," she says hesitantly, because she doesn't want to offend Kakashi-sensei but she can't accept either, no matter how much she wants to.

Kakashi ruffles her hair and Sakura breathes a sigh of relief. He doesn't mind. "That's okay, Sakura," he says, "I didn't think you necessarily would but I figured I'd ask anyway. This doesn't change anything at all. You're still like Sasuke in what you mean to me. You understand?" Sakura nods. "How about you Sasuke?"

Sasuke swallows and glances over to Takuma who barks twice. "I'd like to," he says shyly. "It'll fit well, especially as I'm used to working with Takuma for the most part, even if we aren't quite great together."

"This will help," Kakashi says. "With any luck, some of your summons will help out and can teach you new things. You'll need to sign the scroll and then what will happen is you'll be summoned to the realm of the canines. Sakura, something similar will happen to you, but it'll be whatever summons most resonates with you. The hand seals are as follows: boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram."

"How long are we in the summons realm for?" Sakura asks.

"It depends," Kakashi answers, trying to call on his own memories of when he first signed the summoning contract. "Summons require different things. Sasuke, for instance, might stay a few days to prove himself and gain a pack. Others, like Naruto from what you've told me, just had to prove himself to the chief summon and that was it."

Sakura nods. "Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram?"

"Yes," Kakashi says. "Be careful and make sure you're prepared for anything, alright?"

Flashing a grin, Sakura says, "I'm always prepared!" Before going through the hand seals and vanishing in a burst of chakra.

"Should we wait for her to come back?" Sasuke asks and Kakashi shrugs, _(hiding his worry because there's nothing he can do to help Sakura right now)_.

"She's on her own currently, the most we can do is be here for her after. You're welcome to wait a couple of hours and then go or you can go now."

"I'll wait," Sasuke says, after pausing. "If I'm going to be out of reach for a few days, I want to know she's alright before I go."

"Very well."

* * *

Sakura finds herself displaced to a location that appears quite different from Konoha and the rest of Hi no Kuni. It partially reminds her of what Kawa no Kuni is meant to look like—primarily water with vegetation surrounding it, usually shrubs or grasses. There's no suggestion as to what animal might be her summon, just unnatural silence.

Sinking closer to the ground, Sakura pulls her chakra signature inwards and folds it over and over, shrinking it down. She can't necessarily do anything but wait, and yet she finds herself not wanting to do that. Besides, she needs to trust that the animals here aren't out to get here and, following that trail of thought, she should be relatively safe. With that knowledge, she heads closer to the nearest source of water despite being aware that there'll be dangers there as well, most likely the animal summons that live in this realm.

The water is quiet, wind causing small crests in the water that lap gently against the reeds and shores. It's calm, almost strangely so. Something in Sakura sighs with it, something inside quietens, and Sakura feels at peace. A moment of relaxation is enough to sharpen her focus and she spots the small snout sticking out of the water.

"Hello?" She calls, quietly though, because she doesn't want to break the peace here, _(it feels like it will shatter far too easily and she doesn't want that, even if she can't quite identify why)_.

The snout turns out to be connected to a head, brown fur plastered down with water. The creature rises from the water and Sakura has no idea how she hadn't seen the rest of its body hidden by the water. "Hello," the creature offers shyly in return. Its small ears flicker from left to right. "I'm Chihiro. Are you to be our new summoner?"

"I hope so," Sakura says. "But I think I need to pass some sort of test first. Apparently, that's how these things generally go."

Chihiro nods. "We haven't had a summoner in about seventeen years. I wasn't around back then, though." A quick mental calculation reveals that the summons would have last been used in the last war then. Their summoner had probably died in it, _(she wonders what being a summon is life, dealing with summoner after summoner and having them die but not knowing how unless you were there at the time; it seems like an awful life)_. However, Chihiro doesn't really give her any time to respond, instead going on to say, "I can take you to our chief, Tomoko. She's the chief summon of all of us."

Sakura does not ask Chihiro what, exactly, she is. Only out of politeness, more than anything else. She's very curious, having never seen such a creature before and it's not like they study other country's animals, unless those animals are very, very dangerous and should be avoided at all costs, _(Kaze no Kuni is the main one she learnt about in the Academy)_. Nevertheless, Chihiro steps out of the water and onto dry land, shaking the water off. She's not very big, reaching only to Sakura's knee, but she seems strong.

Chihiro chirps loudly and the unnatural silence of the landscape around them disperses. From Sakura's left, the sound of feet—or paws, perhaps—thudding against the ground can be heard. Soon enough, she can make out two creatures like Chihiro, only bigger, rocketing across the landscape at high speeds. They pause in front of Chihiro, one of the nudging the smaller animal with their noise. "I am Sachie," one tells Sakura. "And this is my sister, Sayaka. We are to take you to Tomoko."

"Thank you," Sakura says. Both of the summons reach her hip in height and they look strong. She certainly wouldn't want to go up against them in a taijutsu fight. It'd probably end with broken bones on her side, despite what she knows of healing.

"Hop up on my back. Don't pinch my fur and hold on," Sachie says.

"Chihiro, I'll take you," Sayaka adds, glancing at Chihiro who groans but climbs up rather awkwardly.

"I can get there myself," she says as Sakura carefully swings her leg of Sachie's back to sit down.

"You can," Sayaka admits, "but we're faster and this way you'll get there sooner."

"Hold on," Sachie warns, regaining Sakura's attention, before launching off in a burst of speed. She's fast—not quite as fast as Sakura with chakra fuelling her movements, but still rather quick. Sakura hadn't expected it upon seeing the animal's bulk, but she'd clearly been in the wrong.

They come to a stop in front of a creature taller and bigger than Sakura in pretty much every way. Sakura won't say the summon towers over her, _(she has stood on battlefields with Tailed Beasts fighting, has stood on the back of one shaped like the Kyūbi and fought; she refuses to be towered over by anything less)_, but they're big, to say the least. They stand around two metres tall, but they don't carry themself in a way that indicates danger or anything.

_(Sakura's first moment in this realm was one of peace, of calmness, and that means something, shows something about the innate nature of these summons.)_

Sakura bows first. "Hello, Tomoko-sama. I am Sakura Haruno, ninja of Konohagakure."

Tomoko nods back. "Hello, Sakura-san. I am Tomoko of the Capybara summons. It is an honour to have a potential summoner once again."

"What must I do to prove myself?" Sakura asks, and Tomoko laughs, shaking her head.

"There is no need to prove yourself, necessarily, only show yourself," she says, rather cryptically in Sakura's opinion. "Tell me, why do you seek a summoning contract?"

Sakura pauses. "To help me," she says. "With fighting, but also with sending messages to my teammates. One of them is out of Konoha, currently, and we want to keep in contact with him. Hear that he's safe and happy while travelling."

"And that," Tomoko says, "is showing yourself. We are summons, Sakura-san, of teamwork first and foremost. Yes, we are quick and capable of earth ninjutsu and a few of us are able to use water ninjutsu, but we pride ourselves on teamwork first. Since you want to talk to your teammates, you have found us as your summons. Junpei, bring forth the contract."

A small capybara near Tomoko nods and burrows into the ground, disappearing from Sakura's sight and her senses. He returns after a few minutes, bearing a rather large scroll across his back. He presents it to Sakura, who takes it, unravelling it. She reads through it, briefly, but it doesn't say much. "Sign your name in blood, Sakura-san," Tomoko says. "And so the contract will be. You will return to your previous location once you have done so and be able to call on us as you need."

Sakura nods and signs her name in blood. Then she is gone back to Konoha without another word, but with more power than when she came.

* * *

When Sakura returns, proudly saying that she's gotten capybaras as summons, following that with an explanation of what capybaras are to Sasuke, he signs the scroll Kakashi gives him and activates the jutsu. He's proud of Sakura, happy that she's content with her summons, and very much fearing their next spar where she's undoubtably going to unleash the summons on him and he'll probably come out with more bruises then he can come, but he's slightly worried over what will happen to him.

Kakashi-sensei had mentioned there's a chance he'll be gone for a few days. He'd also said that Sasuke will have to get himself a pack. Sasuke's not quite sure what that means nor how he should go about it without Takuma at his side, _(and Sasuke's not happy about that, but it makes sense)_.

The moment Sasuke places his hands in the final hand seal for the summoning jutsu, his chakra flares and envelops him. There's a sensation akin to something tugging him along and a flash of light, causing him to close his eyes against the brightness. When he opens them, he's surrounded by a forest, although not as tightly packed with trees as Hi no Kuni's forests, nor are there the massive trees that Hi no Kuni is famous for.

Currently, he's on a somewhat steep incline, littered with patches of rocks and scrubs amongst the trees. Birdsong pervades the air, the rustling of leaves a quiet sound beneath it. It feels rather calm for the most part, but the back of Sasuke's neck prickles the same way it did when he does when he's stealth training and knows someone's watching him. The best place to be is up, so Sasuke leaps forward, and in quick strides, reaches the top of one of the trees. He needs to get a better sense of his surroundings and understand where he is.

After all, whilst Sakura had been gone, Kakashi had helpfully told him that the summoning contract is for all canines, although it changes for the person. Considering that he's on a incline of some sort, he heads further up jumping from tree branch to tree branch, periodically activating his Sharingan to check his surroundings. He doesn't spot any animals, but that doesn't mean they're not there. Something tells him that he's still being watched.

He reaches the summit relatively quickly, shifting from the tops of the trees to a pile of rocks that mark the highest point on the hill. Looking around, he notes that the surrounding countryside is largely hills covered in trees and, presumably, rocks. There's no clear signs in any direction, no obvious routes for Sasuke to take nor are there any signs of the summons that call this realm home. Upon leaping down to the ground once more, he channels chakra to his nose and sniffs the air, trying smell for any obvious animal scents. He's not as good as Kakashi or Naruto for that matter. Apparently, Kakashi has a better nose because he's a Hatake and Naruto probably has a good nose because of the Kyūbi. But that's okay, Sasuke will just get better at it.

A low snarl is all the warning Sasuke gets. He swings around, just in time to catch sight of claws and teeth, and then he's slammed into the ground by some creature. Instantly, Sasuke reacts, kicking at the creature's stomach and bracing a forearm against its throat. It snaps at him, jaws open wide, and—with a surge of chakra—Sasuke rolls off the rock and shoves the creature off as they both go flying. He rolls, hitting rock and then the ground, but gets up straight away. He'll bruise, but he has to live first.

The creature—a wolf, he can see now—attacks again, going low. Sasuke faces it straight on, empty-handed but not caring. He has to prove his strength. This time, he evades the wolf's charge, before kicking out with a leg into the wolf's ribcage. It yelps as it goes flying, landing amongst some shrubs, but it gets up gamely enough. Sasuke stares it down, gazing into its eyes, and refuses to blink. If he wants a pack, which he does, he has to be the one in charge. Besides, Sasuke will stare down just about anyone, figures of authority or not.

They circle one another warily. During this time, Sasuke takes a better survey of the wolf he's fighting. They look like a grey wolf, one of the more common ones found in Hi no Kuni, but bigger, standing over eighty centimetres, he reckons. Once again, the wolf growls. Sasuke snarls back, baring his teeth.

Then, surprising him, the wolf lays down and rolls onto its back, baring its stomach and throat to Sasuke. He stalks over and stands above the wolf, eyes narrowed, before stepping back. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha," he says. "Who're you?"

"I am Kanon," the wolf replies after standing up. "Did you sign the Hatake contract?"

Sasuke nods. "Kakashi-sensei is my teacher," he says. "He can summon ninken."

The wolf, Kanon, grumbles. "Ninken are alright," she admits, at last, "but wolves are better."

"I have a ninken," Sasuke says in warning, "called Takuma."

"That must be who I can smell on you," Kanon says. "I mean no disrespect to your teacher or your partner."

"Very well," Sasuke says. The pause between them stretches into a silence wherein Sasuke fidgets awkwardly before saying, "Are you part of my pack now? I mean," he fumbles over his word, "Kakashi-sensei says it kind of changes a bit. And didn't really give an obvious answer as to how it all worked."

"I will join your pack," Kanon answers. "And so will others when we have defeated them and proved our worth. When you have at least four members, you can return from whence you came and we can join you there. You must always present the choice. We are capable of making our own decisions, just as you are capable of making them. If you were wondering, I am a grey wolf; the largest wolf species to roam this area. I am four and have never actually been summoned, but I have been taught well and will be able to help you."

Sasuke runs a hand over the wolf's head, which Kanon leans into. "Of course you will," he says. "I mainly need to send my teammates messages, but I am sure the pack will be helpful in future missions as well. Where do you suggest we go?"

"If it is a messager you want, we should head towards where the timber wolves or desert wolves reside. The former are very good sprinters whilst the latter have better stamina and are often second in speed."

"Should we not have both in our pack?" Sasuke asks. "It seems like both skills would be helpful. And if we run into anyone on the way, well, all the better, no?"

"You will be a good summoner, Sasuke," Kanon says. "I will lead you towards their territories."

* * *

After a few good hours of travelling over various hills, Sasuke and Kanon reach the territory where the desert wolves reside for the most part. According to Kanon, territories aren't a massive deal and multi-species packs are all too common, but the desert wolves tend to stay in the same area as the conditions suit them best. However, most of the wolf species tended to stick in separate territories. Kanon herself, it turned out, is part of a rather large pack and had told them she was going to find their newest summoner.

"I wasn't necessarily going to join your pack," she tells him, as they pause by a river for a small rest break. "But I was going to judge you and then tell my pack. I quite like how this is turning out though. You smell of comfort and home and warmth. I did have to test you anyway, though."

"That's alright," Sasuke says. "It was a good way to test you back, I think. I knew something was following me but I couldn't see you. You were pretty good."

"Thank you," Kanon says, before standing up with a stretch. "There is a wolf approaching upwind, are you prepared?"

Sasuke grins and rests his weight in the balls of his feet. They hadn't expanded much energy on the run over and the adrenaline surge only emphasised that fact. "Yes."

A light coloured wolf exits the forest on the other side of the river. It's much skinner than Kanon, lacking the thick fur and the broader stance. Almost comical looking, Sasuke finds, but clearly built for speed and, he reckons, good at hiding in the desert. The wolf looks at both of them before sitting down. "I am Kichirō," he says. "I willing to join your pack if you meet my expectations."

"And what are they?" Sasuke asks.

The wolf grins, daring and challengingly. "A race," he says. "Depending on the outcome, I will either join your pack or not."

"This doesn't seem like a very fair race when I have no idea where anything is around here," Sasuke says, not out of irritation or anything, but simple curiosity as to how Kichirō has thought around this.

"It won't be far," Kichirō says. "Further down this stream is a rather large waterfall. The end of the race is at the bottom."

"Alright. Are there any limitations or anything similar for it all?"

Kichirō's grin grows wider, which Sasuke hadn't thought was possible. "Yes," he agrees, words sharp and pointed, "you can't use chakra. I won't either, so we'll be on even ground. It'll be natural speed."

It's not the worst terms that Sasuke's ever had, but it's far from the greatest. Since he's not on the river or having to keep to the tree branches, he doesn't necessarily need chakra. It won't be easy getting through the forest, but he's not too bad when it comes to speed, thanks to Toru and his own competitive spirit and urge to always do better, be better. Still, a challenge. Not to mention, getting down the waterfall will probably require a lot of movement and quick thinking if it isn't a slope down but a steep drop.

"I'll do it," Sasuke confirms. "Kanon can begin the race."

Kichirō nods. "I'll see you at the bottom of the waterfall," he says, ears flicking.

"Not if I get their first," Sasuke says, eyes narrowing.

"Three," Kanon begins in the following silence. "Two... One... Go!"

Sasuke shoots off, adrenaline surging with his movements. However, Kichirō is much faster and proves it. Sprinting off from the very beginning on the other side of the river. He easily gets in front of Sasuke, setting a good pace.

But that's not going to easily win the race. Sasuke _refuses_. He speeds up and finds a good sprint to settle into, one he could keep for about a minute and then drop into a faster running pace that isn't quite a sprint. Leaping over shrubs and avoiding rabbit holes means he has to keep an eye on where he's going, but he can see that he's caught up to Kichirō—well, almost. Kichirō's a steady metre in front of him, thankfully not pulling away.

Then he has to drop his pace, lungs aching with the strain, legs carrying him every step further. The occasional times his feet hits rock, he struggles to avoid slipping from the wet, mossy surface. Once again, Kichirō pulls ahead. For another minute, the race continues and then Sasuke hears the sound of a waterfall. Adrenaline boosts his running pace, once again, and he sprints forward. Around him, the trees disappear to leave a waterfall dropping steeply in front of him.

He slides to a stop, almost tumbling, by the drop. Off to his right, Kichirō is leaping from rock to rock, quickly getting down to the bottom of the fifteen-metre waterfall.

_No chakra,_ Sasuke reminds himself. And that's a problem, because there's no way he's going to win if he does what Kichirō's doing to get down. He'll be slower with how careful he has to be to not fall—and you don't want to fall and hit more rocks. The bruises from earlier today ache at the idea of it.

Taking in a deep breathe, Sasuke leaps forward, out from the waterfall and into air. There's nothing beneath him and he tightens his control over his own panic, forcing it aside, as he drops down. Straightening himself, he crosses his arms in front of his body.

He hits the water hard, the force making its way up his body. It kills, but nothing feels injured at all, and he has his entire range of motion as he pushes off the bottom, before swimming to the shore where Kichirō waits. Pulling himself out of the water, he has to laugh, adrenaline fading. Everything hurts but it doesn't hurt beyond bruise-level of pain. He mentally reminds himself to thank his other friends for the training they did with free falling into water without chakra. It certainly helped him just then, probably saved his life with his luck.

Kichirō pretty much howls with laughter when Sasuke reaches the shore and gets out. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke calls on his fire chakra, sending warmth blasting through his clothes and turning them from dripping wet to damp, and—unfortunately—turning his hair frizzy as a result.

"You're insane, you know that?" Kichirō says, but it doesn't appear to be a negative thing at all.

"I won, did I not?"

"So you did," Kichirō says. "Without cheating, without chakra, and you tried even when I was obviously going to win. Not to mention that unbelievable stunt you just pulled."

_(Sasuke learnt, first from Toru and then from Naruto, that sometimes not giving up is the better option, that refusing to give in, refusing to say die, just lets you inch in and win. When people expect you to give up, they ease off, and—in that moment—you can race pass and steal victory from their hands.)_

"Never say die," Sasuke says, smiling.

"Indeed," Kichirō says. "Indeed."

Kanon appears overhead and quickly leaps down, chakra softening her landing. "You're insane," she says, although to who she's speaking to isn't very clear.

"Want to join our pack?" Sasuke asks, instead of responding to Kanon.

"You are going to be great and fierce," Kichirō says, "and, most importantly, _fast_. It would be an honour."

"Welcome," Sasuke says. "But if you think that was fast, you should meet my older brother who's even faster."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Sasuke says. "He'd probably love to race you. But... he's away right now. I'm going to find him, though."

"What do you mean away?"

Sasuke scowls. "He said I didn't need him anymore and _left,_" he spits the word out. "But just because Itachi-nii's back doesn't mean I don't need him! He says he'll be back eventually and I'll see him again but I need to know where he is now, if he's happy now."

"Pack doesn't abandon pack," Kanon says, a low growl in her voice. Sasuke runs a hand down her back.

"It's a bit trickier than that, I think," Sasuke says. "I don't... He didn't seem himself as everyone else saw him. I think he saw himself as replacable because he's not family by blood. Not that that matters! It's just... he thought himself lesser, I think. And if I didn't need him anymore, he could go to a place that needed him apparently. But... But I'll always need him and he could go anyway. I just want to know he's alright and hear from him on occasion. You know? He's _family_."

"Pack," Kichirō agrees. "He'll be back though, even if we have to bring him back screaming and thrashing. You just have to remind him you'll always need him."

"Yeah. I'm going to do that," Sasuke says, eyes fixed on some point in the distance. "And it can't come soon enough."

* * *

**Day 112**

On the second day, Kichirō disappears for a few hours before coming back with a timber wolf almost ten centimetres taller than him. "This is Umeko," he introduces, proudly. "She's a better sprinter than I am since I'm more made for stamina. Umeko, this is the person that beat me in a race."

Umeko gazes at Sasuke steadily. There are scars dotted all over her coat, but the most obvious ones are the dark ones scarring her muzzle and face. She looks old and like she's seen her fair share of battles. "Kichirō is one of the fastest long-distance runners we have," she says. "There are very few who can beat him without chakra, even in a small race as opposed to one focussed on stamina."

"I am Sasuke Uchiha. It's a pleasure to meet you, Umeko." He doesn't ask her to join his pack or anything because he has a feeling she'll make the decision whether or not he offers the question. And, right now, there's no point offering the question when he hasn't done anything to prove himself to her.

"I will stay with you for a day or two," Umeko says, at last. "And we will see where we go from there."

Kichirō doesn't seem to mind Umeko's words, pressing against her briefly before bounding over to Kanon and tackling her in a playfight. It's rather fun to watch, both wolves obviously not trying their hardest. After all, Sasuke knows that Kichirō would easily lose in a one-on-one fight to Kanon who has both the weight and height to beat him. He'd be more likely to dart around with his speed than attempt to tackle Kanon. They might not have known each other previously, but bonds are easy to make, _(friends can be easy to make, sometimes all you need to do is try)_.

There's a moment of pause where the pair slam into Sasuke's legs. But Sasuke's feeling light-hearted enough, safe enough, to join in, launching himself at Kanon. His fingers brush the top of her fur as she ducks, and he smoothly falls into a roll, before getting up and spinning around. Then, it's a free for all, with even Umeko briefly participating in the play fight.

It comes to an end when Kichirō is thrown off into brambles and struggles to escape whilst the others laugh at him. Sasuke then picks all the burrs out as an apology when the other sulks, which leads to both Kanon and Umeko wanting to have their coats cleaned as well. Sasuke ends up promising to buy a brush for them all and brushing them when he returns to Konoha and hasn't got a mission or anything similar.

Afterwards, they find a rest spot for the night and Sasuke makes a campfire, since it gets spectacularly cold at night even when you're surrounded by wolves, who are basically piles of fur. As he waits for sleep to take him, Sasuke wonders what Sakura's doing and what Naruto's doing. It's strange, sleeping alone, without company. He'd forgotten what it feels like. He finally drifts off when Umeko shifts, resting her muzzle on him, a unsubtle reminder that he is far from alone.

* * *

**Day 114**

The group run into Kaoru, a red wolf, on the fourth day of Sasuke's visit. Sasuke's eating some ration bars due to not having much else on him, watching as the others feed on a deer they'd brought down together. It had been an interesting hunt, to say the least. Sasuke's far more used to using a kunai or a trap to get a rabbit to eat than anything else. The wolves, on the other hand, had done their best to teach him how to participate in a pack hunt. It had been tricky, watching the others for signs on what to do without talking. Thankfully, Sasuke's work with Takuma had come in handy, making it easier to read the wolves' body language.

Kaoru's appearance is heralded by noise. The wolf makes no attempt to disguise their coming. It's interesting—the way that they say _I am here_, _you cannot ignore me_. What's even more interesting is the way the wolf sees Sasuke, and despite obviously having been ready to see him, stares at him.

_(It's a stare that seems to see right down to the marrow of his bones. It seems to know him, intimately, deeply. It looks at him and sees him. It sees the fractures in his skin, the lightning-scars that travel across his body, metaphorical in every way that they are not. It pierces him to the core, tracks ribs coated in steel, a heart carefully shrouded but gentle, kind. It sees the anger, an ember resting in his chest, that can be urged so easily into a fierce roar. And, some days, it is a fierce roar, because Sasuke tries to be good, tries to be kind, tries to be gentle. But some days all he can do is feed the anger and rage within, this grief that refuses to leave, sinking hooks into his veins and anchoring itself, covering him like a blanket. Sasuke takes care that such things cannot be seen, but Koaru stares and Kaoru sees.)_

_(Kaoru is known, amongst the wolves, for seeing to the core of things, understanding things when others would prefer he does not. They like to call say he's got a superpower, something magical. But it's a joke. They all know the truth. Kaoru is a natural chakra sensor with a small range. But—for those within his rage—he can sense their chakra, their core, and when combined with a being's natural scent, he understands more than he should, more than he wants,) _

Kaoru can sense bravery, sense fire-driven emotions. And he understands hardships, reads the way they scar you and often not physically. He's known to be a fighter but known to be gentle as well. Some would say it's a pardox, something that could not possibly be true. Yet one can be gentle and a fighter. It doesn't mean you have to be both at the same time.

So, upon seeing Sasuke, Kaoru sits down and meets the shinobi's gaze evenly. "I am Kaoru, red wolf," he says. "And, if you would have me, I would like to join your pack."

This is not Kanon, who will give when she is given and will take when someone tries to take. This is not Kichirō, who will run with the wind and ask you to come. This is not Umeko, who will study and wait and then decide. This is Kaoru, who is not rash and not necessarily willing to abandon his old pack, but understands that sometimes you need to push past what you have, sometimes you have to redefine your limits, _(sometimes, you need to share your strength)_.

And Sasuke, who does not quite understand pack beyond the basics, says, "Gladly." Because there is strength in asking, in not setting a test, and Kaoru looks and understands, _(and everyone needs someone like that)_.

Over the next few days, they learn how to work together and live together. Sasuke figures out that Kanon and Kaoru are most likely to agree to cuddles and not doing anything, while Kichirō and Umeko will join in if they feel like it. Most importantly, he starts understanding what pack really means.

It's been one-hundred-and-seventeen days since Toru left Konoha.

* * *

**Both Sakura and Sasuke manage to receive summoning contracts. Whilst Sakura spends a few hours in one realm, Sasuke spends a week in another.**

* * *

**_There's probably quite a few typos in this chapter. Sorry! I didn't go through it before posting and now I can't be bothered._**

_**I feel like you guys should know that I wrote chapters 4-12 (including both 4 and 12) in Feb. All of them. I hit 50k in writing by the end of the month. It was glorious and Sasuke's part is over and I am so, so thankful.**_

_**Anyway, there's not much to say about this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the summons and everything that happened.**_

_**Toru keeps appearing in the chapter like a ghost. Which is fantastic, since that's my aim. But also, he's not a major focus anymore because it's been some time and Sasuke's growing and learning and /healing/.**_

_**Also, if you find me on Tumblr under silent-silver-slip there's now a tag for this series (The Sea Never Dies) that contains a piece of writing on Konoha's ANBU Commander and will eventually include some art I've got and potentially AUs and other fun things that never got to fit in the series properly.**_


	10. Part 1: Friendship

**Seeing your comments is filling me with joy guys. If you want a response, though, you're better off catching me on Tumblr under Silent-Silver-Slip (where there's a tag for this series now) or on AO3 where I can respond in a comment. We also have a discord server going, so message me to get a link for it! Hope you guys are looking after yourselves.**

* * *

**Day 125**

**_Dear Sasuke and Sakura,_**

**_Your summons are so cool! Kichirō says that I need to tell you that Junpei is equal to him in speed and that your packs should race each other. I'm not sure what that necessarily means, but I reckon you know. Also, Kichirō say that he'll be able to find me in the future? I'm not sure how and I didn't think to ask until I was talking to Tsubasa about it who said that she can find Konoha but not you guys individually? It seems to be a wolf-thing to do with tracking from what I can figure. _**

**_Congratulations on getting summons! Both of you. Also, Sakura, I really, really, really don't want to go up against your summons alone! A capybara the size you described sounds terrifying! (Ero-sennin read your note and said that the capybaras aren't a very well known as a summon unlike toads and wolves, but I think he's just jealous! Even if they aren't well known, they sound like they really should be. I'm sure you'll make them known though. And when I'm back in Konoha we can make ourselves known for our teamwork!) _**

**_I can't wait to be back with you guys. And yet we don't know how long it'll be until I can come back. I'm glad to hear (read?) everything's going well though. _**

**_I do have some questions for you though! Well, really, it's a topic I was wondering if you could do some research into. Ero-sennin is trying to teach me this jutsu called 'Rasengan', but it's tricky! He's given me steps on how to do it but not what they all lead up to or why it's such an important jutsu to learn? Could you guys get some more knowledge on it? _**

**_Love, _**

**_Naruto_**

**_P.S. We're going to stop by a town soon! I'll get you guys gifts since it's meant to be an important town._**

Sasuke reads the note through first and then hands it to Sakura, who frowns upon reading it. "The Rasengan sounds familiar," she says. "But I'm not sure where from."

"If it's such an important technique, we should know about it right? Or know it?"

"Yeah, probably," Sakura says, scanning the message again. "If the name's familiar though, then I've read it somewhere before. We could ask Kakashi-sensei. He knows Ero-sennin clearly."

"Makes sense," Sasuke says in reply. "The Yondaime was Kakashi-sensei's teacher and Ero-sennin was the Yondaime's teacher." The pair share an amused smile, more at the title they've started using for Jiraiya than anything else. It helps to keep the secret quiet whilst allowing them to talk about it all without privacy seals. "But we could also ask Shika. We haven't had a topic to explore together in ages."

"True," Sakura says. "He's in Konoha currently, right?"

"Unless there's been an emergency requiring him somewhere, he's on rest. He was doing training, I believe," Sasuke says. "Do you know where?"

Sakura shakes her head but Takuma barks. "I take it Takuma has an idea of where he is?"

"He'll track Shika," Sasuke says. "Apparently, he's somewhere nearby."

Glancing around, Sakura turns back to Sasuke with a furrowed expression. "We're literally in one of the more isolated training grounds on the edge of Konoha's boundaries. How the hell is he nearby?"

Sasuke shrugs. "Maybe he's just cloud watching or something instead of training today. It wouldn't be that surprising."

"True, I suppose," Sakura says, "And since it's so well isolated, he doesn't necessarily need someone on watch to nap."

Takuma barks again, having darted off a few paces. Quickly, Sakura and Sasuke follow.

* * *

**Day 128**

**_Dear Naruto,_**

**_We did some research into the Rasengan. And by we, I mean we asked Shika and he looked into it for us. He didn't write any notes, as usual, but he did give us a rather thorough breakdown for it, which we've copied down for you here. _**

**_The Rasengan was a jutsu created by the Yondaime Hokage. It took about three years, unsurprisingly, considering the difficulty of the jutsu and how much chakra control it requires. Apparently, the main reason why the technique is so good is because you can hold it for various stretches of time and it doesn't use chakra beyond what was used to create it. From what we understand, the more chakra funnelled into the jutsu, the bigger the Rasengan appears. Despite its appearance (that simply of a sphere of chakra), the Rasengan is very dangerous due to its nature. The rotation of the chakra in combination with the strength behind the attack leads to the Rasengan, on contact with the target, grinding into it before exploding into sharp fragments of chakra—rather like shrapnel, really. _**

**_With the help of both Shika and Kiba, we found out a little bit more about the whole learning process. This is probably one of those things you should keep quiet (and be very thankful that we can buy chakra-specific seals so only Tsubasa could open this for you), and destroy after reading this. _**

**_The main difficulty of the Rasengan, as mentioned before, is that it requires extremely refined chakra control. However, the Yondaime broke learning the jutsu down into three key steps (before storing it in a very high-ranked part of the library but we're ninjas so...): rotation, power, and containment. _**

**_Rotation is about learning to spin your chakra within a sphere (like a ball? Or a balloon? There weren't any examples apparently) in multiple directions simultaneously. Shika recommended attempting the leaf exercise various directions at once to work on this. I'm of the belief that training with chakra exercises and jutsus that use small bits of chakra and playing around with them is the best way to go. Sasuke recommends the Shadow Clone technique? Which makes sense, actually, considering how it halves your chakra and all that. The point is that you're just spinning your chakra. It's pretty easy, but the aim is to do so within a specific area and not impact anything. That's the difficult section._**

**_Power is the next step and also quite tricky. But! You should find this easier to be honest. You need to increase the amount of chakra you push into the sphere, but also keep its shape. Think... walking on water to a much, much lower level (and this part would probably be harder for you). If you use too little chakra, you fall in, right? And if you use too much, you get shoved off (and we're ignoring how difficult it is to keep hold of you chakra and focus and all that). BUT, when you use a very, very thin layer of chakra, you can sink a little bit into the water without actually falling through. On the other hand, if you use a slightly thicker layer of chakra, you sit on top of the water. That's the density bit—you want more chakra still contained within a small area._**

**_Which brings us to the next part: containment. Personally, it seems like the former two steps are this step... But it appears to be working on not having it change shape at all? Whatever. You should be able to handle it (and we believe you can!). _**

**_Love from,_**

**_Sasuke and Sakura_**

**_P.S. Next time Sasuke is writing. Unless he's dead. Which will be because he refused to write and I killed him for it. Hope you don't mind being on a team of three!_**

* * *

**Day 160**

Naruto spins around, hitting the clone in the stomach with his chakra-enforced heel. The clone bends over with the force and disperses in a puff of smoke. Grinning, Naruto shifts his weight backwards into a cartwheel, avoiding a particularly nasty wind jutsu that Jiraiya taught him a week ago. The clone that just used the technique charges at him with a loud battlecry, inciting the other two to join in with screams of their own.

Sticking his arm out, Naruto calls up his chakra and it answers, easy and wild and free. Darting along his arm, it coalesces in his palm, a spinning blue ball of destruction. "Rasengan!" He yells and throws it at the middle clone. There's no time to dodge the attack and the middle clone vanishes the moment the Rasengan hits it. However, the Rasengan than explodes and takes the other two clones down as well.

Shaking his arm out to reduce the numb feeling in it, Naruto smiles to himself. He's getting better at using the Rasengan in a battle scenario without losing his focus. But—he glances at the sun—that's not what he's meant to be doing, technically. Jiraiya's left him alone for most of the day, heading off to the nearest village for some information gathering, and will be back tomorrow evening at the latest. And, technically, Naruto's meant to be working on using the Kyūbi's chakra since he hasn't apparently got the hang of it yet.

And, one day, Naruto's definitely going to tell everyone he has no plans of doing that. Just... not yet.

Sighing, he crosses his legs and sits down on the ground. At the very least, he can check on the Kyūbi again. He's been working on talking to the creature for some time. Not to use their chakra or anything, but just to get the Kyūbi used to the idea that Naruto isn't going to just take, _(even if his life is in danger)_.

Nowadays, he doesn't have to meditate and then drop into his mindscape where the Kyūbi resides. Instead, he just needs to think a little bit in that direction and he can open his eyes and find himself there. They're currently in an open grassland area of some kind that Naruto's not sure if he created or if the Kyūbi created, _(they've recently got the hang of managing to have the Kyūbi influence areas of his mindscape, as long as he allows them to)_. There's a massive lake nearby, trees and shrubs dotted around one side of it. And, within the lake, is the Kyūbi who's finally noticed him and is staring, _(and it's sometimes overwhelming, that stare, but rarely does it contain anger behind it)_.

"Hey," Naruto says, walking across the top of the water and closer to the Kyūbi. He can see a dry patch on their back. "Do you want some help with your back?"

The Kyūbi snarls, half-hearted. "I don't need your help," they say, looking very much like they might try to drown him with one of their tails.

"Maybe not," he agrees cheerfully. "But, like, you don't have to need help to get it. It makes things easier which isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"You are far too irritating to argue with." Which, in Naruto's opinion, is an agreement because the Kyūbi loves to argue. So, without waiting further, Naruto goes through a couple of hand seals and guides the water to slide down the Kyūbi's fur from one side to the other, drenching them.

"Ero-sennin still thinks I'm just trying to use your chakra," Naruto says, chattering mindlessly. He's been keeping the Kyūbi appraised of what's been going on in his life and everyone else. It gets rather lonely, travelling endlessly, with only Jiraiya who's sometimes there and often not. It's not quite what Naruto had imagined to be. Oh, it's been wonderful and he loves seeing new places and people, loves trying new things. But he misses Konoha and all his friends like a physical injury. "He hasn't caught onto the fact that I haven't yet nor do I plan to. You'd think a spy master would have noticed it."

The Kyūbi closes their eyes and hums. They seem content which Naruto sometimes thinks isn't possible for the being. He doubts that the Kyūbi will ever be happy, trapped as they are, but content is all he can really hope for.

"Apparently the Jinchūriki are in hiding for the most part," Naruto says, somewhat quieter, because somehow the other tailed beasts matter to the Kyūbi, _(it had been the first time Naruto saw the Kyūbi being worried, even if the Kyūbi had been quick to hide it, when Naruto had mentioned that people were after all the tailed beasts)_. "Ero-sennin isn't sure where but the Akatsuki haven't gotten anyone yet. It's been really quiet recently. Like something's changing in the distance, just past the horizon, but no one can see it. Ero-sennin say people are waiting for something to happen because the world feels like it's holding its breath. _I _said that was ridiculous and people just didn't like him. But really people are just worried about what's happening with Kirigakure because it's getting really bad there or it sounds like it's getting worse. A missing-nin from Kiri, one of the Jinchūriki, was seen there recently but disappeared into the mists. So we're fairly certain they're safe but Ero-sennin refuses to go anywhere near that country because it's so bad."

The Kyūbi opens their eyes again and sighs, standing up. They shake, sending water cascading and Naruto almost falls from the waves. However, the Kyūbi reaches out and takes a hold of him with one of their tails which- which they've never done before. And Naruto is caught in the feeling of warmth. It makes him sleepy, makes him feel safe. It's like the chakra that makes up the Kyūbi can be felt through their very fur. The Kyūbi takes Naruto to the edge of the lake, where they drop him.

"Get on my back," the Kyūbi grumbles, like that isn't something massive, like Naruto doesn't understand the importance and gravity behind the words. "And do _not_ grab onto my fur," the Kyūbi says once Naruto's sitting astride on the Kyūbi's neck. "None of that weird chakra holding-on either. It messes with me."

Seconds later, the Kyūbi shoots off across the landscape and it's weird, because somehow Naruto manages to stay on even though the sheer speed should push him off without chakra. But it's like the wind avoids him, playfully tugging on strands of his hair, but otherwise leaving him alone.

They stop a minute or two later. The Kyūbi's taken them into the mountains, something that's usually distant more than anything else. They've stopped in front of a frozen lake, ice a turquoise blue that Naruto's never really seen anywhere in nature.

"I am one of nine siblings," the Kyūbi says. And this feels monumental to Naruto, _(like standing on the edge of the cliff and knowing nothing is stopping you from falling but yourself)_. "There is Shukaku of one tail; Matatabi of two tails, Isobu of three tails, Son Gokū of four tails, Kokuō of five tails, Saiken of six tails, Chōmei of seven tails, Gyuki of eight tails, and myself, Kurama of nine tails."

Accompanying the Kyūbi's—Kurama's—words are pictures on the frozen lake. Their siblings, Naruto figures. Shukaku is one that Naruto has seen before, a tanuki with sand-coloured fur and black lines weaving across its body like tattoos. Matabi is a bakeneko with flames licking across its body. It has a yellow eye and a green eye, its gaze piercing, but Naruto doesn't feel threatened by it at all.

Ibosu is a large turtle with a crab-like shell. Spikes cover its body, yet the tailed beast's gaze is gentle more than anything else. Son Gokū appears as a red-furred monkey with fangs and horns. Deadly and dangerous, Naruto is sure, but Kurama's sibling, which might explain why the tailed beast appears to have its mouth open in laughter.

Kokuō has a horse-like body with a dolphin's head, if one ignores the horns. It's white and the fur looks so soft that Naruto wants to reach out and touch it to find out, despite knowing that it's only an image reflected. Saiken is a slug with short feet and longer arms. Yet, it looks nothing like the slugs that Naruto's used to. It looks too aware, for one, and too big for another.

Chōmei resembles a blue kabutomushi with six green wings. It looks free, appearing as a creature flying in the sky, eyes wide with happiness. The last tailed beast is Gyuki, which appears as an ushi-oni with four long horns on its head. It's easily one of the largest of the tailed beasts, but with its tails curling around a smaller version of Son Gokū, Naruto doesn't think the creature appears that scary.

"Thank you," Naruto says seriously, because this is trust of the highest order, after jumping off Kurama's head so he can meet their gaze. "For trusting me with your name and those of your siblings."

"You aren't the worst human in the world," Kurama replies, and somehow it sounds friendly, sounds kind. "Far from it, in fact... Thank you, for telling me of my siblings."

Naruto smiles, because he could hardly do anything else. If someone had news of Sasuke or Sakura or Iruka-sensei or Kakashi-sensei or Toru, he'd want to know straight away. "You're welcome," he says instead, because sometimes that's kinder.

* * *

**Day 172**

Face pretty much burried in a patch of clovers, Sakura sighs. Only to lift herself up and spit out a clover. Clearly, being dramatic has just failed. She scowls at where Ino is laughing at her, just out of reach. "I don't know what to do," she whines.

Tenten who Hinata made friends with through Neji, and became one of their friends through her bukijutsu expertise, smiles as she cleans her kusari-fundo. None of them are experts in various weapons, generally with the basic ones that most ninjas get good at throughout their careers, so Tenten's help with learning how to fight against different weapons has been amazing.

"What?" Hinata asks. "You have so many notes on your file about focuses. You've got the poison one and the medic one. You're an approved combat medic by the new guidelines as well. How often are you sent out on hard-hitting missions?"

Sakura rolls over, so she's not staring up at the sky. "Last three missions have been those ones," she admits. "But I don't know what to do training-wise now. I mean, aside from all the general stuff I've been working on. I need something new for a break, you know?"

"I think," Tenten says slowly, "that you all have some serious issues about taking breaks."

"Tenten, you can wield so many weapons that your opinion doesn't count," Ino informs the older kunoichi. "I cannot think how much time has gone into that training."

Groaning, Sakura drags the attention back to herself as she flops an arm over her eyes, shielding them from the sun. "It's been forever since I went on a mission with Sasuke and-or Kakashi-sensei as well."

"You trained with them two days ago," Hinata says.

"Shut up, Hinata. I haven't trained with them in ages."

"As a team, you guys—plus Naruto—are pretty well rounded," Tenten points out. "Especially with Sasuke trying to pick up kenjutsu recently. What's he trying out?"

"He's going for an ittō-ryū style," Sakura says, recalling the information Sasuke had told her about a week ago. "A simple tantō, though. He's learning from Itachi-san for the Uchiha style more than anything else."

"The Uchiha Clan have some amazing styles," Tenten says, somewhat mournfully. "What do you think it'll take for me to get my hands on some?"

"Just ask," Ino advises. "Sasuke won't care nor will Itachi-san, I believe. Or, at the very least, he'll do anything to please Sasuke. And Sasuke just wants to ensure that the Uchiha Clan legacy isn't forgotten. He'd probably love you if you learnt their styles and used them."

"Should I pick up another weapon?" Sakura asks, more to Hinata than anyone else.

Hinata shrugs, before saying, "It might not be a bad idea, actually, if you go for a weapon with a longer reach. Sasuke's going for a tantō and Naruto isn't picking up any long-bladed weapons. Not to mention, your taijutsu style is based on being close to the person, even if your medical techniques give you a slightly longer reach, it's still like a kunai-length. If someone has a katana or something, you'd be forced to disengage and find a better plan, which isn't your style of fighting generally. And neither Sasuke nor Naruto are always going to be there to back you up."

By now, both Ino and Tenten are paying attention. "It'd definitely be good," Ino agrees. "But it's also something that doesn't need to be rushed right now, so it could almost be relaxing. Maybe."

"What do you reckon, Tenten?" Sakura asks, turning to the resident weapon's expert, _(or, to-be-expert)_, and removing the arm from her eyes.

Tenten tilts her head in thought. She's fought Sakura a few times and so she's starting to get an idea of the other kunoichi's fighting style. It mainly revolves on destroying an opponent at close range or disabling them from long distance. However, when Tenten employs her weapons with a longer reach, it becomes harder for Sakura to win and results in a much more interesting match. "I'd suggest maybe the bō, kyoketsu-shoge, or naginata. The kyoketsu-shoge is a bit more middle-distance than anything else, but it's pretty stealthy to blend in as a civilian due to its appearance as a farm tool. Plus, it's very good for disabling and disarming others as long as they aren't very fast. I'm not fantastic with it, but I can use it. The naginata is something you could consider, especially if you want something with a blade, which the bō lacks. I can teach both of the latter to some extent."

"Probably not the kyoketsu-shoge," Sakura admits. "It's not like I'll ever be going undercover as a farmhand. I'd have to dye my hair and wear contacts if I was doing a proper infiltration anyway. Plus, Sasuke's taking to stealth and tracking like he was born to it with Takuma and his summons. I mean, he's pretty much an all-rounder for missions, but as a team, that's more his area of expertise than anything else. Naruto could also pull it off, maybe, but that means if it was on a team mission, I won't be going undercover. And, if it wasn't, then I won't have reason to have a kyoketsu-shoge on me. I'm tossing up between the bō and the naginata though. Thoughts?"

"Honestly, both would work well," Hinata says. "Since they can be incorporated into an empty-hands fighting style easily enough. If you're going to go up against people with bladed weapons, I'd be leaning towards a naginata though, since—with the blade—it's harder to break with a chakra-infused blade. Especially, if you go for one that allows for chakra reinforcement. It'd be expensive to keep rebuying a bō if your last one breaks as well."

"They're generally forged quite well," Tenten points out. "But yeah, there's a chance it'd get broken against high-level opponents."

"I feel like all three of you are assuming I'm going to be going against high-level opponents. I'm a _chūnin_."

"Who goes on hard-hitting missions," Ino points out. "And you're a combat medic, not to mention who your teammates are. It's definitely going to happen, better to be prepared for it early."

"Alright, naginata it is," Sakura agrees, causing Tenten to beam.

"Awesome! I can't wait to show you Tōka Senju's style. It's _amazing_."

* * *

**Day 185**

"One of the most easiest emotions to sense in anyone," Kurama says slowly, from where they lay amongst the grass in front of Naruto, "is hatred." Naruto's attention sharpens, sensing that this is important somehow. "It's one of the first things I noticed about humans. How easily you all _hate._"

"But-"

"Silence!" Kurama snarls, tails lashing in either anger or agitation—Naruto's not sure which. "Hatred," Kurama continues, "is an awful, awful thing. It takes people and twists them. I thought humans themselves were naturally predisposed to hatred, and perhaps they are, but you are not driven by such things. And yet- Yet you feel hatred. It grows inside of you, a warm ember that you occasionally stoke and feed, waiting for it to grow into a bigger fire. I wonder, though, what would happen if you let it consume you. Because it will, you know, consume you. One day. And I will be here to see it, to be proven wrong, to know that my trust was misplaced. And I will watch as you betray me and break your oaths and I will make you regret it."

And Kurama gets like this, occasionally, Naruto knows. They seem to fall to their own emotions, to hate the fact that they listen to Naruto. More often than not, it appears in fits of anger and rage that Naruto forces himself to weather. They talk about anger and hatred a lot. And he gets it, kind of. Kurama's full of hatred and rage and sometimes it feels like that's all they are. It's not. Naruto knows it's not, but maybe Kurama forgets that. And maybe they're talking about him but they're also talking about Kurama.

_(Look underneath the underneath, Kakashi would be so proud of him.)_

"It doesn't have to be a bad thing," Naruto says slowly, thinking about the words before he blurts them out, _(he pulls on Sasuke, on Toru, on Iruka-sensei, on Sakura, on Kakashi-sensei; people who think before they speak, who know that words can harm and try to prevent doing such a thing)_. "Hatred, that is. Anger too, though. It's... Hatred can control you, can motivate you, but it's not all you are. It never really is. It's okay to be hateful, to be angry. "You just... You need to own that hatred. Know that you have it and refuse to let it own you."

Kurama huffs and looks eastward, away from Naruto's gaze, but a flick of their ear shows that something else has caught their attention as well. "There's a fight happening to our east," Kurama says, which isn't an answer, but that's okay, because sometimes thinking things over is better than giving an immediate answer, _(Toru taught him that)_. "I believe someone you may know is involved."

Frowning, Naruto leaves his mindscape, leaves Kurama to his own thoughts, and turns his focus east. He's not a fantastic sensor, but Kurama is and they've been helping him figure it out a bit more, amplifying his range and showing him how to be aware and pay attention. There's a few flares of chakra, within an hour's travel, but he can't figure out who the 'someone' Kurama had mentioned might be, _(and it's interesting that Kurama had paid attention to the chakra signatures of his friends in Konoha)_.

Jiraiya is nearby and Naruto waves at him before pointing east. "What's happening over there?"

"A few of your friends are going after some ninjas, I believe," Jiraiya replies, and there's something easy about the expression on his face, _(something not quite soft, but less harsh, less bold than Jiraiya's usual and Naruto couldn't name what places such an expression on his face)_. "You can head over there if you want, but I believe the fight's winding down now."

"Who cares?" Naruto says grinning, quickly throwing his pack together and slinging it onto his back. "Am I meeting you there or...?"

"Sure," Jiraiya says, _(trusting Naruto to be safe, trusting that Naruto is capable of using anything he can to remain safe, such as his new one-tail form)_. "I'll finish this little bit of writing and follow after you. Don't care too far." After pulling a face at the mention of Jiraiya's writing, _(which, it turns out, had once been primarily porn that sexualised women and had misogyny littered throughout it and was clearly created specifically for men, but is now romance with some porn but not so much bad porn; still, Naruto refuses to read it for good reason)_, Naruto nods and takes off towards the flares of chakra.

He makes it there as the fight comes to a close with a pink-haired figure slamming a missing-nin into another missing-nin. "Sakura!" Naruto shouts, joyful, once he's sure it won't be detrimental to distract her. Sakura spins, grin wide on her face, and immediately slams into Naruto, hugging him.

That's when he hears a bark and turns, spotting Takuma and Sasuke leaping out of a crater, a missing-nin flopped over one shoulder. "Sasuke!" Naruto shouts, causing Sakura to pinch him due to the noise. It's worth it though! Especially as it makes Sasuke join in the hug quick as anything.

Eventually, his teammates pull back and Naruto waves to their current teammates—Lee and Tenten. "How are all of you?" He says, making sure to include Lee and Tenten so that they aren't alone, _(and it's mindless to take such an action, to ensure everyone's included)_. "How's Konoha? Tell me everything!" And they do.

It's been one-hundred-and-eighty-five days since Toru left Konoha.

* * *

**Team Kakashi continue to exchange messages and learn whilst time passes them by. Naruto learns the Kyūbi's name and their siblings. And, slowly, Kurama starts to accept that Naruto isn't an awful person. Then, in a surprising turn of events, Sakura and Sasuke manage to run into Naruto during a mission. It seems like everything will be fine—and, currently, is fine (but there's still a noticeable gap where Toru should be standing).**

* * *

_**So like I'm not entirely sure how Sasuke's summons can find Naruto, but it's a Thing. They can do it. Probably something to do with chakra and a tracking jutsu? I could figure the specifics out but I could also not.**_

_**On the other hand, I did a bit of worldbuilding with the Rasengan, mainly about how it all works. For those of you wondering, Kiba caused a distraction that ensured Shika got into higher sections of the library. Could they learn the Rasengan from what Shika found out? Probably, but they're not going to do, mainly because the lack of a teacher can be a problem since they have so little experience with it (the Rasengan was stored in a high-ranked part of the library for a reason after all).**_

_**Meanwhile, Naruto makes a massive leap with Kurama and learns his name. I hope I managed to show that properly! I didn't show Kurama's character development so I can understand why it feels like a massive leap.**_

_**'Face pretty much buried in a patch of clovers, Sakura sighs. Only to lift herself up and spit out a clover.' This is easily one of my favourite lines here. Simply because it's just so a human thing to do and the image of it is ridiculous especially when you considered how strong Sakura is.**_

_**Anyway, once again, a small message from the author, largely because I don't know what to say and there's not much that needs to be said. This was more character development and character relationship development. Important things, but not major events that had a lot of thought put into them.**_


	11. Part 1: Swift

**Day 195**

Tsunade rubs her temples and glances down at the pile of paperwork in front of her. Making a decision, she carefully nudges it towards a corner of her desk, glad when it fails to fall over or mess with any of the other piles of paperwork, _('necessary,' Shizune keeps telling her, like Tsunade should be expecting to have half her life dedicated to paperwork nowadays)_. Her receptionist flares their chakra, forewarning a meeting. Tsunade glances at the letter resting on top of a pile of paperwork noted as being very important.

A group of jōnins enter—Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma. The only connecting link between the three is that they all have students, which Tsunade knows is what this meeting's about. The chūnin exams would be kicking off soon, technically, and all the other jōnin instructors have come forward over the past two weeks to indicate whether their students are ready to partake in the exams. Most of them have agreed that their students aren't ready and if the exams were being held elsewhere, they'd send their students in for experience.

"Morning, Hokage-sama! The light of Youth is shining down on us today!"

"Good morning," Tsunade replies, amused and baffled, as she always is when Gai talks. "As I'm sure you're aware, the chūnin exams are coming up. However, due to Mizu no Kuni closing their borders four months ago, apparently in some sort of civil uprising, the exams have been moved to Iwagakure. Primarily because no one appears to be getting in or out of Mizu no Kuni. I'm leaning towards not sending our people into Iwagakure due to their focus on strength and our continuous strained relationship. As such, would you be willing to submit your students for a promotion based on field-experience as opposed to a performance in the chūnin exams?"

"They're ready for it," Kurenai says, "and have proved themselves ready for it, without a doubt, out in the field. I approve of granting Kiba-kun and Shino-kun a promotion."

"Same goes for Chōji and Ino," Asume adds. "They were almost ready to last time, so the experience they've gotten recently has improved their chances. If they had entered Konoha's exams at their current level, they'd have a great chance of being promoted. There are plenty of reasons that they could be promoted for out in the field as well."

"Tenten and Neji's power of Youth is a beautiful beacon for everyone! They are ready to look beyond my teaching and achieve a new status!"

Tsunade nods, content with the answers. They don't necessarily need more chūnins, but it would be a boost in morale and standing for the clans. Plus, it'd free up some of her top jōnins. After thinking of her schedule for the day, she says, "Bring your students to me in approximately three hours. I have a few moments of free time that can be set aside for promotions."

_(And, with any luck, that brat Kakashi won't get any wind of it and ambush her with pleas to have his team meet up with Naruto, complaining that Sakura and Sasuke had been able to, so Kakashi should be able to. She is going to throw him out a window one day soon.)_

* * *

**Day 201**

"Hey, Hokage-sama, Naruto's currently in-"

Tsunade shoves her chair back, letting it fall over with a crash and strides over to Kakashi, chakra crackling across her skin and settling in a deep thrum beneath her skin, ready for action. "That's it, brat! I've had enough of this!" She punches him in the gut and sends him flying out the window which, thankfully, had been open at the time. Otherwise she'd have to get someone to repair it. Leaning out the window, she adds, "You have a week to get there and back with your bloody students! If you come back early, it won't just be a window you get thrown out!"

Slamming the window shut so it rattles in its frame, Tsunade turns back to her work, cursing irritating jōnins who don't understand the meaning of the word no under her breath. With any luck, she should get some peace and quiet for a few days. Maybe. She's certain of it in fact—she would even bet on it.

* * *

**Day 204**

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto says loudly upon spotting said person along with Sakura and Sasuke. Kakashi waves, as if trying to appear more aloof than anything else, and Naruto laughs as he flings himself at Sasuke and Sakura, _(he'd missed them, ached for them, and it had been worse since he'd seen them and then lost them again). _He manages to knock Sasuke down in a tackle, but Sakura fluidly dodges as he falls onto Sasuke. Then she drops her weight onto both of them, joining the pile. "I've missed you," Naruto says, the words muffled as he speaks into the ground, pressed down by Sakura's weight.

Beneath him, Sasuke grunts, and even if the words hadn't been clear, they all knew what had been said. Eventually, Sakura gets up and helps the other two up. "Where's Ero-sennin?"

"Checking out something in the nearby town," Naruto replies, pointing north. "He sensed you guys coming about an hour or two ago." He turns to Kakashi. "You're in charge. Apparently, _I_ can't be trusted."

Flipping through his book, Kakashi hums. "That's probably true," he admits, seeming to pay very little attention to his students.

"I don't think Kakashi-sensei could be trusted either," Sakura says out of amusement. "Tsunade-sama certainly seems to think he needed to be kicked out of her office often enough."

"Maa, maa, don't you think it's a little rude for students to pick on their teacher?"

Naruto rolls his eyes and goes to respond when the ground suddenly collapses beneath him, sending him falling down. Immediately, he tries to push back with chakra, but it fails, rebounding against him and slamming him into something hard. He lands on the ground, along with Sakura and Sasuke.

"Status?" Kakashi immediately yells.

"I'm alright," Naruto shouts back, getting up, more sore and bruised from the fall than anything else. Sakura and Sasuke are standing as well now, looking around. "We all are. Was that an enemy attack?"

"A sinkhole, I think," Sakura says, resting a hand against a white wall. "We've entered something made by human hand. But these walls—they're made of void stones. It's really weird."

"That sounds familiar," Kakashi says thoughtfully, calmer now that no one is in any immediate danger. "What can you tell me about where you are? Can you get out?"

"No," Sasuke replies, Sharingan glowing a dim red in the sunlight. "This tunnel continues before swerving left in one direction and joining another tunnel that goes perpendicular to this one. There doesn't seem to be anything indicating chakra, but the void stones make it hard to tell. It turns your vision all... blurry? I'm not sure how to describe it. I can see, but I also can't. It's weird."

"I remember discovering that," Kakashi says, "when I was doing a mission in... Orochimaru's lab..."

"You think this is one of his labs?" Sakura asks, catching on almost immediately.

"Void stone walls, lab-like appearance? Yeah, I'd say so."

"We can't get out though," Naruto says slowly. "The void stones repel chakra and we're so low down that we can't climb on one another's shoulders or anything. Kakashi-sensei, you're in charge, what should we do?"

"There's only one thing we really can do," Kakashi replies. "I'm going to summon Pakkun and then join you guys. Give me a moment."

Soon enough, Kakashi jumps down, rolling upon landing. "Definitely looks like one of Orochimaru's labs," he confirms. "Getting out will be the difficult part. It's very likely that there'll be traps around but you can't tell like we could at the old Uchiha Clan Compound."

"This'll be fun then," Sakura says, cracking her knuckles. "Let's go find our exit!"

* * *

Tsunade wins her bet. She lives in _fear_ of when Team Kakashi return.

* * *

Sasuke leaps as the ground in front of him turns to metal spikes. Landing, he rolls, before he's up on his feet and running again, a laugh tearing itself from his mouth. Kakashi's close behind him with Naruto out in front, Sakura easily keeping pace between them. There's a rumble and, immediately, Sasuke curses in his head. "Incoming!" He calls out.

"Fuck," Sakura shouts, which sums up the problem very well. However, by now, they've pretty much got the hang of this. It helps that they figured out, somewhat quickly, that the void stones repel chakra and chakra-fused attacks but the traps don't.

Sasuke's next step spins him around, so he can see behind Kakashi, even as he steps backward to keep his momentum up, and then turns around to face the front again. "Five metres out!" He calls.

"Three!" Naruto shouts, starting the count down. "Two! One!"

Sasuke stops, sliding into the wall and remaining there, as Naruto throws a Rasengan at the massive metal ball rolling towards them. It hits the target, grinding into it.

"Duck!" Sakura shouts and Sasuke drops to the floor, hands over his head to protect it, as the metal ball exploded, sending shrapnel flying. An alarm starts going off, the noise echoing in the hallways and Sasuke glances around. The metal shards are easy to make out in the darkness with his Sharingan, but—more importantly—none of his teammates seem injured. Naruto's Rasengan, plain chakra, has proven to be their saviour today multiple times.

"I fucking hate these alarms," Sasuke mutters, because the alarms are really loud and cause other traps to be set off. They eventually shut off, after half an hour or so, but it doesn't change the fact that they seem to be doing their best to give him a headache.

"Same," Naruto says with a sigh. "But there's a door ahead that looks like it might be good news!"

"If we have to face another trap I might cry," Sakura replies. "Or I might attempt to smash through the wall. Both are possibilities."

"Do not try to smash through the void stones," Kakashi says, sounding pained. "Please, for my sanity if nothing else."

"Well, if it's for your _sanity,_" Sakura says, a laugh in her voice.

"Door ahead," Naruto says in reminder. "I'm going to open it."

Sasuke reckons they probably shouldn't do that without checking their surroundings for traps, but also this entire lab has been a maze and the traps are quite fun to get around, for the most part. The mortal danger gives him a kick via adrenaline and Sasuke's laughed more today than he has in the past week. He increases the speed that his chakra cycles through his body, preparing to send it down to his legs for excess speed. "I'm ready," he says, the words are soon echoed by both Sakura and Kakashi.

Naruto opens the door and almost immediately seals light up around the doorway and down the hall, flooding the place with light. "Out!" Kakashi shouts, which they're already doing. After all, they all recognise exploding seals. It's someone one tends to be extremely familiar with if one is a ninja, after all. Naruto's out first, Sakura and Sasuke on his heels, and Kakashi leaves last. It seems that the moment they're all outside, the lab goes up in flame and rubble.

Team Kakashi, lying out in the grass with the stars above them, laugh. That's where Jiraiya finds them, drawn to the sound of an explosion. He glances at the remains of the lab and at the laughing Konoha ninjas. "Well, I'm glad I'm not the one who has to explain this to Tsunade," he says before they make camp for the night.

Soon enough, they're gathered around a campfire and talking amongst themselves. Jiraiya shares some sake with Kakashi, trusting the chūnins to be on their guard, and having just enough to get him tipsy. The atmosphere is comforting, the low murmur of voices and laughter forming a safe backdrop along with the crackle of the fire. Jiraiya talks with Kakashi, their minds away from the past and the individuals lost in it, sharing tales of Naruto, for the most part, and all the different things he's done over time.

A few hours into the evening, probably around midnight, when only Sasuke's awake on watch with his summons who are enjoying the social aspects of the evening more than anything else, Jiraiya leans over to Kakashi and says gravely, "I think Naruto might be the child of the prophecy."

"Child of the prophecy?" Kakashi echoes, clearly confused.

Jiraiya nods. "The toads have foretold that a student of mine would bring a great revolution to the world. My actions will determine if it's for the world's salvation or the world's destruction."

A snort from across the fire has Jiraiya twisting his attention away from Kakashi and to where Sasuke's oldest summon, Umeko, lays. "That's rubbish," she says, getting up and sitting next to Kakashi so she's closer to the conversation. "Your summons, the toads, they believe in predetermined destiny. But really, the power of belief has more to do with it. If you don't believe, things can lose power. It's not like your actions alone can cause someone to destroy the world anyway. That'd be a combination of factors. Besides, there are more people around than just your students. And what counts as the world anyway? Is it the countries themselves? Or is it what could be someone's personal world? I'm not here for philosophical debates though—just know that destiny is bullshit, to put it simply."

Kakashi chuckles and rubs behind Umeko's ears, not noticing the astonished expression that crosses Jiraiya's face before swiftly disappearing. "So," Jiraiya says tentatively, "I don't- There's no need to worry about a prophecy?"

Umeko shrugs. "You could, but it's only going to stress you out when it might not even happen. A lot of arguments have been made for free will in contrast to destiny and fate. It's impossible to know which one's true but that's where the power of belief comes into it, you know? Like... If we believe that we have free will, we open ourselves up to more opportunities. And I think that's better than believing in certain destruction."

"Huh," Jiraiya says before the conversation changes topic, _(like his world hasn't been tilted on his axis, like he doesn't have to reconsider everything in his life, like he hasn't just had a load taken off his shoulders)_.

* * *

**Day 225**

It's been almost a week since his teammates left when the message from Tsunade comes. Jiraiya opens it first before calling Naruto over from where he's attempting to use Kurama's chakra, _(and Jiraiya refuses to think about why it's suddenly working and why Naruto is improving in massive leaps; there's something fishy there, but if he can pretend that Naruto has been listening to him, he will)_. "We've been recalled to Konoha," Jiraiya says.

"Good timing for it," Naruto replies. "We're only like half a day's run, at best. Why are we needed back home?"

"Well, technically you've been recalled," Jiraiya says. "I've got a mission to gather information about Kirigakure and Mizu no Kuni. Their borders have opened again."

"Huh. Just avoided the chūnin exams, haven't they?"

"That probably wasn't the reason," Jiraiya answers, "but the timing is convenient, I agree. C'mon, if we leave soon, we should be able to make it before night falls."

Naruto nods and starts removing any indications of their presence. As he does so, Jiraiya remains quiet, which isn't unusual. There are periods of time when Jiraiya gets quiet and remains quiet, _(and sometimes it feels like he looks through Naruto or sees someone else in his place)_. Most of the time, though, Jiraiya is loud, drawing the attention to him. He's bold and seems to be a figure larger than life, taking up more space than his frame does. It's a bit strange, especially when Naruto's seen the older shinobi become another person entirely pretty much when entering a town to gather information, _(sometimes he thinks that Jiraiya tries to be more, tries to be bigger, to remind himself how he fits into his own skin and prove that he still exists as himself; Naruto understands that more than he wants to)_.

They're an hour from their campsite when Jiraiya finally breaks the silence. "There's something I should probably tell you before heading out," he says. "Something I offered wrongly when I first met you, I understand that now. You should know though—this knowledge is yours, by birthright."

Naruto considers Jiraiya's words and tries to remember what Jiraiya had spoken about him when they'd first met. He can't remember much... But he does remember anger, cold and hard and awful, remembers that Jiraiya is his godfather, _(remembers that Jiraiya knew his parents)_.

"My parents?" He asks and his voice breaks on that last word, caught, broken in two on his tongue.

"Yeah," Jiraiya says, softly even though neither of them are soft, _(they are ninjas, shinobi, kunai-sharp and rarely in their sheathes)_.

Naruto steels himself, steels his heart, steels his mind.

_(His parents can't be important if he was abandoned on the streets, but Kurama was sealed in him and surely that means something?)_

"Go."

"Your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, second holder of the Kyubi. Your father was my student, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha."

_(The words are like poison, like ice, and Naruto feels like he's fractured, irreparably scared and ruined from those few words. He feels destroyed, rubble left adrift in the world, alone and lonely. Still, he is Naruto Uzumaki, ward of the Uchiha Clan, and he pulls himself together with stubborn determination. He takes aching, broken pieces and sluggishly bleeding wounds and forces them to heal, to lose their sharp edges. He has Sasuke and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei and Toru, wherever he is. His parents only matter if he lets them.)_

"Why," he asks, voice breaking, catching, and he can't help it so he forges on recklessly, "was I left _alone_?"

"For myself, I couldn't take a baby as I was a spy master," Jiraiya says, still quietly like that makes the words easier to bear, easier to hear. "Kakashi was a kid and losing himself in ANBU, but I have a feeling that Hiruzen-sensei placed an order that there could be no interaction with you for people who knew Minato. It'd have gone for Kakashi too. Minato had a lot of enemies, kid, and Hiruzen-sensei didn't want them getting their hands on you. You'd have to ask around to confirm though."

"That's bullshit," Naruto spits out, hurting and aimless with his rage. "That's- That's not right!"

"No, it isn't," Jiraiya agrees, which does nothing to soothe him.

As they run through the trees in silence, Naruto thinks over it. The Yondaime, his own father, sealed Kurama in him and Naruto grew up alone and hated as a result, _(until Iruka-sensei, until Toru, until Sasuke)_. And maybe him being a jinchūriki was meant to be a secret, but that had failed and the Yondaime should have planned for that. Being Hokage is about planning for everything and the secret being leaked is something that should've been thought of.

_(Hokages are meant to look out for their people, which included Naruto both as family and as a Konoha citizen. And the Yondaime didn't. Or he did, but he failed. Naruto is going to be a better Hokage—easily. And it'll be because he cares about everyone, even those kids that everyone ignores and say don't matter. Toru says everyone matters and he's right. Naruto believes it too.)_

They don't talk to one another until they reach Konoha.

* * *

**Day 256**

It turns out to be surprisingly difficult to organise a meet up between twelve people when you're all ninjas on the active roster. Naruto manages to get everyone organised almost a month after he returns to Konoha. He's more or less met up with them at some point or another, but not all together and he refuses to tell the truth about his parentage alone when he could do it in a massive group, _(he's told his teammates because he wanted them to know and they help sort out the mess of emotions that had tangled in his chest)._

The meeting also serves a secondary purpose: to congratulate both Sakura and Shikamaru on their promotion to tokubetsu jōnin status, with the former being promoted that morning and the latter a month ago.

Naruto's the first there with Sasuke, energy thrumming through him and buzzing in his fingertips. "Calm down," Sasuke mutters as he leads the way to their normal table, which has been engraved with privacy seals, _(Tenten had engraved them when Ino had gotten the permission of the owners; she'd said that she wasn't amazing at seals other than storage ones, but she copied it successfully which is all they really need)_.

"I can't," Naruto complains as he sits down next to Sasuke, back to the wall. "I'm too amped up for all this! And I haven't seen some of our friends in literal decades, I swear."

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "It hasn't been that long."

"It really, really has," Naruto says. "You wouldn't know because you enjoy being antisocial!"

"That's a lie and you know it," Sasuke says, rolling his eyes yet again. "You're so dramatic."

Naruto laughs, tension leaving his body. "I really think that describes some others in our family."

At that point, the others start arriving, trickling together in pairs or alone. Soon enough, everyone's there and ordering. It's a challenge, since they get so many plates to share but also individual meals for some, and there's twelve of them trying to talk all at once. Eventually, though, it gets sorted with Chōji managing to figure all the orders and relay them successfully to the waiter, who just smiles in amusement at them. They're all known by name now and know the names of the staff in turn, simply because they come here so often and have been doing so for years now.

Once their drinks have all been served, Ino playfully toasts Shikamaru and Sakura, causing laughter. And Naruto nudges Sasuke to activate the privacy seals. After he does, everyone falls silent quickly, a grave atmosphere overtaking the table.

Naruto frowns at them. "You know, this isn't bad news. Just private news, I guess? I'm not actually sure if people are allowed to know this or not, but whatever."

"Thanks," Tenten says, "for clearing nothing up." Naruto sticks his tongue out.

"Right so, in case, like me, you didn't know. It turns out that my parents are Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze."

"Called it!" Kiba shouts as Akamaru barks.

"You aren't the only one who knows," Hinata replies. "I only figured it out when Jiraiya started teaching you, though."

"Same here," Chōji says. "Shika?"

Shikamaru shrugs. "It was just one of the observations years ago. I wasn't sure if you knew and was keeping it quiet though. It definitely clicked when Kakashi was placed as your teacher."

Ino giggles, breaking the following silence. "You could- You could say that being Hokage runs in your blood." She snorts at her own joke and is quickly lost to her own laughter.

"He isn't Hokage, though," Lee points out.

"Not yet," Sakura says.

"Do you want to be Hokage, Naruto-kun?" Neji asks.

"Yep! That's my goal," Naruto says in response. "It's going to take some time, obviously, but I'm aiming to be a candidate at some point in my life. What's your goal Neji-kun?"

Neji glances at Hinata before saying, "Make jōnin and help instruct future generations of Hyūgas in how our taijutsu style."

"Mine's to simply be known for my bukijutsu and receive an A-rank entry in the Bingo Book," Tenten says. "Out of our team, Lee has the best goal." Neji nods in agreement and the others turn to face Lee, who has a surprisingly serious look on his face.

"I want to prove to the world that not being able to use chakra outside of your body doesn't make you worthless nor is it a weakness," he says.

"That's an amazing goal," Ino says.

Shino nods. "I believe you will be able to achieve your goal," he says. "You have already started to prove yourself, after all. We all have, in our own ways, and I do reckon we can all meet our individual goals, no matter how hard they seem. For instance, I have been tapped for potential assassination missions and, I know, in time I will succeed at achieving jōnin status and becoming an instructor."

"Oh, Hinata, I meant to tell you this yesterday," Ino suddenly says. "Since we're speaking of goals, it reminded me. There may be an opening in the intelligence and psychoanalysis division for a training position. It's only low, but it'll be good until you get older and fit in the division better."

"What's your goal, Hinata-chan?" Lee asks.

"Ah," Hinata says, blushing, "I want to help ninjas who experience traumatic events if I can. I also want to become an infiltration specialist, but that's something more achievable in the present whereas getting in the intelligence and psychoanalysis division requires a lot of work."

"I can see you as infiltration specialist," Lee says. "Your jōnin instructor undoubtably helped with that. She's definitely taken quite a few infiltration missions in contrast to Gai-sensei."

Chōji ducks his head as he says, "I've got a teacher's assistant position at the Academy for the next few weeks. Primarily taijutsu, but it's the first test I'm sure. If all goes well, I might be able to apply for the other tests to receive a longer position."

"That's awesome Chōji! Congrats!" Sakura says. "You all know how I've been going. I'm working towards my goal pretty much constantly. Just waiting to get in that Bingo Book!"

Kiba shares a glance with Ino. "Well, we can't give you much about how we're going trying to get in ANBU," he says. Akamaru barks in agreement. "Largely because we're still so young and have a few years to go before ANBU really thinks about giving us a position. ANBU positions are rarely offered to people our age unless they do something really, really impressive."

_(Naruto's glance with Sasuke doesn't go unnoticed, but no one asks. They are ninjas. They understand secrets just like they understand old pain that comes from scars. This is both. This is Toru.)_

Tilting his head, Sasuke adds his own points, "I'm doing well, I think? I mean, I'm just aiming to be an advisor to the Hokage when Naruto gets that position."

"You're pretty much a shoe-in for it," Shikamaru replies, rolling his eyes. "And you know it. Your political pull and your friendship with Naruto, along with your training and own all-rounder style makes you pretty desired by any Corps group."

"Thanks Shika," Sasuke says, smiling. "You're doing pretty well yourself, though. It's been noted that you had a major influence in our relations with Suna. I'd say we're all doing pretty well, wouldn't you?"

Hinata grabs her glass, half-full of water, and lifts it. "To us!" She cheers.

"To us!"

* * *

**Day 278**

"Hiya, Tsunade-sama!" Naruto says cheerfully as he bounces into the Hokage's office, casually dodging a thrown paperweight that misses him more because it was meant to than anything else. "Heard you wanted to speak with me?"

"Brat," Tsunade says, but the word's said fondly, hardly with any anger. "I ordered you to come here, don't make light of that."

Naruto hums and wobbles his hand in a see-saw gesture. "I mean, did you? You asked someone to pass on a message so I feel like I heard it more than anything else. There was a distinct lack of order-ness behind the word. You know? An order is 'Naruto! Stop causing destruction!' or 'Naruto! Do not use that much chakra unless you want to set us all on fire!' or 'Naruto! Do-"

"Don't antagonise the Hokage on purpose?" Tsunade says, cutting Naruto off and raising an eyebrow. "I feel like my student has said that to you a few times before. To you and your other teammate."

Looking around fearfully, Naruto hisses, "Don't tell Sakura! She'll put itching power in my sheets like she did last time I annoyed her! _I'm_ meant to be the prankster in the household! Not her!"

Tsunade rolls her eyes, which juxtaposes the smile curling on her face. "I did call you here for a reason."

The playfulness doesn't quite drop from Naruto's expression, but his body language tightens, becoming more focussed. It's a hefty thing to have the power Tsunade holds directed at one, even if the power can only be heard in her words, _(with Kurama's help, another aspect is added, chakra that rises and falls in rhythm, calm and peaceful and steady, solid and strong with power)_. "Yes?"

"Yamato!" Tsunade's shout heralds the arrival of another shinobi. He has short brown hair, cropped close to his head, and black eyes that seem to stare into Naruto's soul. It almost makes Naruto uneasy, the way this man wields emotionlessness like a weapon. It makes him feel like something's wrong, but- But Naruto knows others who are like that, even if they're better now, pulled out of their shells by one another. And Yamato's chakra feels like Konoha, feels like forests and rustling leaves and gentle breezes, feels like humidity that doesn't make you sticky but sleepy, feels like refuge in a storm.

"Hey," Naruto says, leaning close to Yamato who doesn't inch away, but gazes down at him with something like confusion, _(people like to avoid strangeness and Yamato is a bit strange, with his expressions and his emotions, and that hurts, leaves its scars, causes loneliness, and Naruto knows how that feels—intimately)_. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

"... I'm Yamato."

"Good to meet you!" He replies before turning his gaze to Tsunade, who's watching him with something like pride.

"Yamato can use mokuton," Tsunade explains. "And will be able to help you in improving how many tails you can control."

Naruto nods and keeps nodding even as he says, "Mokuton. I know what that is. Definitely."

"They teach what it is in the Academy?" Yamato says, more confused than anything else. "It was pretty important in Konoha's history."

And Naruto, who may or may not be running on two hours of sleep, nods in agreement and says, "Like ramen."

"Not... quite," Yamato says, wide-eyed, and glances at Tsunade who's smirking in amusement. "The Shodaime had it?"

Naruto blinks rapidly, before frowning. "The mokuton? That makes way more sense! I heard moyashi."

"How?" Yamato says, quietly despairing.

"I'm not sure," Naruto says. "It probably has something to do with the exploding tag that Sasuke set off in my ear twenty minutes ago and the fact I'm running on two hours of sleep."

"I-"

Naruto and Yamato duck a paperweight and a stapler respectively.

"How many of those does she have?" Naruto asks himself quietly.

"Get out of my office!" Tsunade roars. "Some of us have lives that aren't just a comedy act!"

Yamato bows and exits out the door, Naruto following him, running on adrenaline more than anything else. "I'll meet you tomorrow morning at your normal training ground," Yamato says to Naruto. "Get enough sleep to train."

"Of course!" Naruto says, before squinting at Yamato. "Wait a second! How did you know where I train in the mornings?" Yamato meets his gaze, winks, and then disappears. "Damn it!"

It's been two-hundred-and-seventy-eight days since Toru left Konoha.

* * *

**There are promotions for almost everyone. Team Kakashi is reunited both inside and outside of Konoha, doing their best to give Tsunade a collective headache. And, after some days of rest, Naruto continues training with Kurama, a new teacher helping him.**

* * *

_**Kakashi, please, Tsunade will actually kill you one of these days. Stop badgering the very powerful woman who gets irritated very quickly. On another hand, please love Tsunade because she's awesome.**_

_**Also, Kakashi has been badgering her for days in a row now. Tsunade desperately needs to the break. Does she regret it afterwards? Yep!**_

_**I hope you guys enjoyed the humour I attempted here? I'm not great with humour, but I wanted to try.**_

_**On the other hand, I decided to say fuck the prophecy because, honestly, fuck that. I'm here for free will because that makes me feel better about the world.**_

_**Is Toru doing things in the background? Yes! He is! Do we see him on-screen? Unfortunately not. Kudos to the people who figure out what he's up to currently. It's not very difficult, to be honest. But I'm the author so that might be why I think that way.**_

_**I hope I managed to convey Naruto's anger with his parents sufficiently. It's not fair and it's not right and there's no good decision here. Who's fault is it? I can't say off the top of my head and I'm a bit too tired right now to dive into it all. If you want to debate it though, go for it! I'll definitely reply. The main thing here is that Naruto is allowed to feel angry about what happened. He deserves to feel that way.**_

_**The stuff with the rookie 12 is more filler in nature than anything else.**_


	12. Part 1: Undercurrent

**_Drop a review or PM me if you're interested in joining the Discord server! It's for this series, technically, but also focusses on writing in general as well as sharing all the things we enjoy (whether they be read or watched). Plus, people keep urging me to write other things - some of which can be found over on Tumblr under Silent-Silver-Slip with the tag The Sea Never Dies. _**

**_Hope you guys are all doing alright! Keep yourselves safe and healthy. _**

* * *

**Day 294**

**_Mission Type:_** _Search & Locate_

**_Rank:_**_ B-rank_

**_Mission Objective:_**_ A noble has asked for a team to investigate the theft of their jewels, (see Appendix A). If possible, locate the jewels, arrest the culprits, and return the jewels to the noble in question._

**_Information:_**_ Masami Mochizuki, a minor noble in the Daimyō's court in Hi no Kuni, has recently reported the theft of four jewels, one of which is the prize jewel of their family that was gifted to them by a daimyō three generations ago. Civilian police reports from the capital indicate that the robbers are not civilian-level in abilities, but were spotted leaving. The conclusion drawn from this is that the culprits are likely to be ninjas of low abilities, around genin level. Intelligence suggests that the jewels remain in the city and will only be sold in an underground auction on the 10th of July, this year. _

**_Primary Team: _**_Shikamaru Nara (#012611, tokubetsu jōnin, team leader), Neji Hyūga (#012587, chūnin, secondary leader), Sasuke Uchiha (#012606, chūnin)_

**_Mission Objective:_**_ Successfully completed to a satisfactory level._

**_Information Post-Mission: _**_n/a_

**_Team Leader Report:_**_ After launching an investigation, it took approximately two days (one of which included chūnin #012606 and tokubetsu jōnin #012611 to infiltrate an organisation as buyers—refer to Appendix B for information) to identify the culprits. The following day, the jewels were located and a plan was formed to arrest the culprits, shut down the crime ring, and retrieve the jewels. The plan encountered no issues and the jewels were successfully retrieved, with the culprits being arrested along with the leader of the crime ring. The capital thanked Konoha and expressed gratitude for their help in undermining the civilian crime ring. The jewels were then returned to the Mochizuki household._

**_Team leader Observations:_**_ n/a_

**_Complaints From Team Regarding Teammates:_**_ None_

**_Complaints From Client:_**_ None_

Tsunade rereads the mission completion form. There'd been no problems encountered at all. In fact, the team had performed better than expected with destroying the crime ring without causing any additional damage. It's one of the better B-rank reports Tsunade has read this morning. "I wonder..." She says to herself, carefully thinking over some other reports she'd received this week—specifically, the mission reports from Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Kakashi Hatake. None of them had encountered any problems in any of their missions, which in Naruto's case makes sense, since he's been stuck doing C-ranks near Konoha's boundary for the most part.

According to Jiraiya, the Akatsuki seem to have gone relatively quiet, the lack of jinchūriki around leading them to dead ends and intelligence suggests that they want to capture Naruto last. "Maybe it's not Team Kakashi who have bad luck," Tsunade says to herself, "it'd simply been an unfortunate spot of bad luck on their last mission." It makes sense to her. Things go wrong on missions all the time. It's rarely that a team itself causes bad luck to befall them—that's just superstition. And Tsunade knows such things don't exist, _(she believes in hard facts, in sterile environments and steady hands, in knowledge and experience)_.

Nodding to herself, Tsunade fills out a form that puts Team Kakashi on border patrol. It's a good time for it, with tensions relatively low and focus elsewhere. Besides, the trio of chūnins need to learn how to run a border patrol. She's sent other relatively-new rookies out. Nothing's gone wrong yet.

She stamps her approval on the form.

And she won't make a bet this time.

_(She regrets that a week later. She could've made a fortune.)_

* * *

**Day 301**

"Listen," Kakashi begins and Tsunade already wants to be drunk. She refuses to deal with this sober. In fact... She glances at the shut door and the closed window.

"Hold up," she says before Kakashi can go any further. She brings out a hidden bottle of sake and considers pouring herself a glass. The four ninjas stare at her. Kakashi's hair is more black ash than silver and Sasuke has no eyebrows. Naruto's lost an entire sleeve of his jacket, the black marks on the tattered remains indicate what happened there. Sakura would look impeccable except Tsunade knows her hair was a good bit longer before she left.

Tsunade's going to leave the bottle as she is. It's going to be better that way.

After taking a massive gulp, she says, "Continue."

Kakashi's pouting at her but she doesn't care, _(her head already hurts like a bitch and no one's even said anything)_. "The first few days passed without any problems. On the last day, however, we were helping a team from Kusagakure," Kakashi begins. "They were tracking down a missing-nin for a mission, one listed in Kusagakure's Bingo Book as a D-rank bounty. They weren't in our Bingo Book so, following previous precedents set, I identified that we could allow the foreign team into Hi no Kuni and track the missing-nin down with them, before escorting all of them outside Hi no Kuni's borders."

"What about the border?" Tsunade says, not quite demanding, but still urgently. She takes another big swallow of the sake in her hand.

"There were two chūnins there," Kakashi says flippantly. "We told them. They said they could handle it since everything was so quiet, and we headed off with the Kusagakure team to find the missing-nin."

"I was the lead tracker," Sasuke interjects. "Since I needed to work on my tracking skills according to Kakashi-sensei. We followed them for an hour, steadily closing the gap between us and the missing-nin. That's when one of the Kusa-nins said they could sense where the missing-nin was."

"He was a sensor," Naruto says. "And I could tell because I could vaguely sense the missing-nin in question as well. I'm not a very good sensor, so we agreed to follow the Kusa-nins and only step in if needed and ensure that the fight remained contained for the most part. It was all fine. The Kusa-nins defeated the missing-nin and we escorted all five of them over the border, waved goodbye, and that was it!"

"Or so we thought," Sasuke mutters, before dodging a paper weight thrown by Tsunade.

"No snide remarks!" She says. "Kami, I can already feel a headache coming in."

_(Sakura does not say that 'it might be the sake', but she thinks it very, very loudly.)_

"I took the lead back," Sakura continues, "since Kakashi-sensei wanted to see how well I could manage to bring us back to our original location without following previous tracks. I took us on a route that I thought was the most direct to get back to base and, later, Kakashi-sensei agreed that it was the right route. However, about five minutes into our travel, Naruto said that something didn't feel right and, since we all know to listen to our instincts, we stopped pretty much right away. Kakashi-sensei's instant reaction was to say 'Oh no' just before Sasuke activated his Sharingan. He quickly said that there was a genjutsu over an area on her immediate left. Do you want us to show you where we were on a map?"

"No," Tsunade replies. Her bottle's only half-full. When did that happen? "I can tell easily enough where you were now. Continue."

"We break the genjutsu and go to check it out," Sasuke says. "Which makes sense considering we weren't sure if it was something to be worried about or not. We did our best to be stealthy and keep our eyes peeled for traps. Kakashi-sensei recommended against splitting up since we couldn't tell how big the area that the genjutsu covered was. We ended up in a rather large clearing that seemed to be in ruins, with ditches, but nature had started claiming it back. We had maybe thirty seconds to see our surroundings before Naruto leapt forward and narrowly escaped going up in flames."

Tsunade glances at Naruto's burnt sleeve. Well, lack of sleeve. "This came later," he says in explanation.

"Anyway, everything kind of went up in flames and from there we did our best to avoid getting caught in explosions. After setting off quite a few traps," Sasuke says, _(which is a tiny bit of an understatement in Naruto's books—they'd set off almost all the traps, he'd swear it on his life)_, "we managed to catch a break. Except, at this point, our surroundings are kind of on fire. And not a controlled fire either." He glances at Naruto, which makes sense. He should probably explain this next bit.

"There weren't any streams nearby," Naruto continues. "And I was panicking so I put a bit too much chakra into my water ninjutsu, which resulted in water pretty much pouring from the ground. It felt like the world was turning to water around us. I've never been in a flood, but I know what it feels like now. Sakura tried to stop the floor by pulling up some earth walls to drop the water, but it kind of knocked them down instead and took out some more of the forest." Naruto pauses, scratching his neck sheepishly.

Tsunade moves her mournful gaze from the almost empty sake bottle to Kakashi, who she glowers at. "What were you doing while your students did their best to destroy the land around them?"

"What my cute little students failed to mention is that the reason we had peace was because we'd activated a time-based explosion seal. I was doing my best to defuse it so we didn't all blow up," Kakashi explains, smiling. "That's when Sasuke decided to save the day!"

Tsunade's scowl moves from Kakashi to Sasuke, who doesn't smile but doesn't cower beneath it either. "I wasn't very helpful with controlling the fire or anything since I mainly know fire and lightning ninjutsu. Thankfully, I'm not too bad with figuring out how to handle explosions. Kakashi-sensei wasn't managing to defuse the bomb so the next best thing to do is contain it. I told Kakashi-sensei to have some of the water surround the bomb and Sakura to place a dome around it in a sphere. This left the rest of the water but, with Naruto's help, we managed to make some of the ditches bigger and link up. Meanwhile, the bomb went off and turned all the water to steam but the explosion was contained."

"And that's why we're unharmed and there's a new river in Hi no Kuni," Naruto says grinning.

"And why there's no forest there," Sakura adds, _(Tsunade never should have taken her on as a student; that voice is too calm and peaceful to be anything except infuriating and it is exactly what Tsunade herself does)_.

Tsunade's bottle is empty and she is not happy, _(about that and also about the mission)_. "I am never sending you together on a mission ever again. Not even if the world depends on it," Tsunade declares. "Now get out of my office unless you want D-ranks for the next year!"

They leave quickly.

* * *

**Day 306**

"Naruto," Kurama says and Naruto lifts his head up from where it's hidden in the grass. He's dead, literally and figuratively. Yamato and Kurama's trained combined is hell and they're trying to murder him. Even worse! They're succeeding. On the other hand, though, so is he. He did manage up to five tails today.

"Kurama," he says in return, before dropping his head back into the grass. "I'm dead. Leave a message and I'll get back to you later."

Kurama sighs. "You know full well I can't hear you when you do that," they say before nudging him with their paw. "Get up, I have things to do with you."

Sitting upright, Naruto gives Kurama a look full of confusion. "'Things to do'?" He repeats, "What's there to do in our minds?"

"A few days ago, one of my... siblings called me to the meeting point," Kurama pauses, clearly waiting for Naruto to ask a question, which he does.

"What's the meeting point?"

"I'm not entirely sure how to explain it. It's a level somewhat deeper than this in our subconscious where my siblings and I can all meet. I am going to take you there now. Remember that you are my jinchūriki, the most powerful of nine, and the best. Do not shame me."

Naruto smiles up at Kurama. "I knew you loved me!" He coos and Kurama hisses, wrapping a tail around Naruto and taking care to ensure that some fur ends up in his mouth. He feels a tug in his gut and Naruto feels like he's dropping suddenly, without anything to stop him, before landing abruptly. He rolls away from Kurama who lets him go, spitting fur out of his mouth. "That's so gross," he moans. "I think I swallowed some fur."

"Stop being an idiot," Kurama tells him after heaving a sigh. "And stand up properly."

Naruto rolls his eyes and goes to retort, but he's stopped when he realises where he is. It's somewhere he's never been before. There's a seal of some kind made up of multiple circles. Naruto has no idea what it says, but his attention is held captive by the other eight bijūs. They all seem to be watching Kurama and him in various states of shock and amazement.

Shukaku is the one that speaks first, laughing, before saying, "Kurama, I can't believe you've decided to join us."

Baring his teeth, Kurama snarls. "Isobu reached out to me," they reply. "I answered and now I bring my jinchūriki to meet you."

"He's rather small, isn't he?" Matatabi says, lowering her head. Fires lick across her body, dancing to their own tune, and she's one of the most beautiful sights that Naruto has ever seen. "But I suppose most humans are, in the end. I can't believe you listened to us though and brought your human here."

"He's not mine," Kurama says, horror carefully hidden in his words. The other bijūs react to it, but they don't quite get what Kurama means. Naruto does.

_(Kurama says he's not mine because they resent the idea of ownership. Kurama believes in partnership but they believe in autonomy as well. They hate the idea of being controlled and hate the idea of anyone else being controlled. Kurama says he's not mine and it's one of the highest compliments he could've given Naruto.)_

"It's good to see you," Ibosu says. "I'm glad you came. And so is everyone else!"

"Are we?" Gyūki asks, but smiles and nudges Kurama. "It is good to see you again, sibling. I will call my jinchūriki. Brethren, I recommend you do the same."

And, one by one, the other jinchūrikis appear. Gaara is the last one to appear, standing on Shukaku's head, and looking quite different to how Naruto had last seen him. He looks confident in his skin, happy in it. And there's something about how he seems at ease, settled in himself. Naruto's glad to see it.

"It seems like everyone's changed," Kokuō says. "This is the first time we've come together in centuries. Is it not?"

Kurama inclines their head. "Indeed," they reply. "I-"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" He says loudly, cutting across Kurama's conversation without a saying. Kurama growls and flicks his tails, but doesn't seem to care that much.

"I am Gaara."

Matatabi's jinchūriki goes next. A blonde-haired kunoichi who gives off the same vibe that most of the kunoichis Naruto knows do—one of danger. "I am Yugito Nii."

"Rōshi," Son Gokū's jinchūriki offers gruffly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"My name is Han," Kokuō's jinchūriki says and Naruto tilts his head as he stares at him. Han's easily the tallest person he's ever seen, probably, and cuts a rather foreboding image in his armour.

Saiken nudges his jinchūriki who offers a small, polite smile. "Utakata."

"I'm Fū! Jinchūriki for Chōmei!" She looks young, but she's older than Naruto. Not that that's saying much, since they're all ninjas after all.

"I'm Killer B! The one with all the rapping expertise!" Yugito Nii sighs, clearly used to it, which makes sense as they both appear to be wearing a Kumogakure hitai-ate. Naruto, on the other hand, laughs.

"It's good to meet all of you," Utakata says, "but I'm afraid that we're here for a reason. Have any of you heard of an organisation called Akatsuki? They are hunting after us. They usually move in pairs and wear cloaks of black with red clouds of them."

"I know of them," Naruto says in the following silence. He pauses, hesitates, but these people are like him and he wants to help them, _(and he knows Toru would do the same)_. "We've got a little bit of knowledge on them. They mainly have S-rank missing-nins in their group. This includes Kisame Hoshigaki, Deidara a former Iwa-nin, Hidan who defected from Yugakure, and Kakuzu who originated from Takigakure. We have beliefs that there are four other members, but I don't have any knowledge on them that I can share."

"And why are you sharing this information with us?" Han asks. "It serves you no purpose."

Naruto shrugs. "You're like me," he says simply. "Besides, we're kind of like siblings, aren't we?" Behind him, Kurama smiles, something slow and steady and soft, _(and it means everything that they don't say)_.

* * *

**Day 318**

The world is blurry. "You stupid idiot!" A pale blur shouts, snarls, larger than life, chakra cool yet sharp. The image is overlapped by another one—this time Kurama, whose tails lash back and forth, body given a red glow by chakra.

"Stupid," they agree. The world turns back, _(Naruto lets the darkness take him)_.

* * *

**Day 319**

When he next wakes up, the world isn't blurry anymore. He shifts, only to pause immediately at the pain that lances up his arm, awful and hurting. There's a vague recollection of Tsunade and Kurama yelling at him. At the same time? He's not sure, but he is certain Kurama can't escape the seal, _(yet, because he wants to give them their freedom back and he's going to figure out a way to do it)_. Pushing past those blurred memories, he tries to recall what he'd been doing, why he's in pain.

It had something to do with the Rasengan. He'd been trying to fuse wind chakra into it. Yeah, that sounds about right. Except, something had gone wrong, desperately, and he remembers his arm burning and everything had become painful. Someone had shouted something. Sakura had been there, he thinks.

_His team!_

They would be waiting for him if he's in the hospital, which is likely to be where he is. With what seems like all his energy, he cracks open his eyes. The first thing he sees is the ceiling above him, which makes sense since he's lying down. Rather than trying to sit up, _(he may be an idiot from time to time, but he's not going to try and sit up when his arm feels like it's trying to disintegrate out of sheer pain)_, he twists his head. The first figure he sees is Sasuke, slumped asleep in one of the plastic hospital chairs that are made for visiting rather than sleeping. Dropping his gaze, he spots Takuma laying by Sasuke's feet, half-asleep by the look of his eyes.

"Naruto-kun, you're awake." The quiet words jerk Naruto's attention away from Takuma and to Itachi, who he'd missed when looking at Sasuke. Itachi offers a small smile, looking up from his knitting, _(a new hobby that Itachi's trying out and seemingly enjoys, unlike his attempt at painting and drawing, which had been frustrating since he kept recreating perfect images despite his low vision)_. "It's been a day since the training incident where you injured yourself. Let me wake up Sasuke and Sakura. I promised I would if you woke up whilst they were sleeping."

"Sakura?" Naruto repeats.

"On your other side," Itachi explains before nudging Sasuke awake. The younger Uchiha jerks upright.

"Naruto!" He says loudly, which causes a bang from the other side of Naruto. He looks over and sees Sakura, hurriedly straightening a chair from where it had fallen over. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore," Naruto admits. "What'd... What'd I do? I remember trying to fuse wind chakra into the Rasengan but not much after that."

Sakura crosses her arms. "You didn't have the control needed to do it properly since it requires a lot of internal precision. When you pushed the wind chakra down your arm, you fucked up the chakra pathways in your arm. I did my best to keep you stable as we rushed you to hospital since triggering a body flicker was inadvisable with your injury. Anyway, we got to the hospital and they put you in an emergency operating theatre. They had to call down a specialist along with Shizune, who called Tsunade, since it was so finicky and the Kyūbi wasn't helping matters. Or, they were, but it was pretty unexpected and no one knew what to do. Apparently, they were burning your chakra pathways in your arm to prevent your healing worsening the injury by healing them incorrectly. If that had happened, it would be much, much worse and you'd be looking at a recovery period of some time. You're really, really lucky."

A shiver runs down Naruto's spine. "Yeah," he says, "I am."

_Thank you, Kurama._

* * *

**Day 322**

Sasuke flips a page over in the notebook, glancing over the brief notes. He's got nothing. Well, not quite nothing, because he has somethings just not much of anything. He frowns and considers his thoughts. They're starting to get rather jumbled. Clearly, it's a sign that he should stop fixating on the mainly empty notebook. After all, the small bits of information he's gathered won't be much help. Sighing, he pushes the chair back and stands up, bending over backward slightly to crack his back.

He picks up the notebook and closes it. He's not happy about his lack of information on Toru, but there's no what-ifs circling his mind, which he's thankful for. It's good to know that he's somehow doing his best and he can accept that easily enough.

_(He knows he isn't giving the search for Toru his all. He's been training and spending time with his friends because he knows he can't ruin himself just searching for Toru—Toru wouldn't approve. It doesn't hurt so much, now, to think of Toru. It aches, but not as fiercely as it did. He knows it's not anything he did that chased Toru off. It'd been Toru and a variety of factors, including Toru's belief that he can be replaced relatively easily.)_

_(When Sasuke next sees Toru, he's going to pound that message into his head—that he isn't replaceable in the slightest.)_

There's not much to do currently, since Sakura's working a hospital shift; Itachi's helping out with a day care, _(which Sasuke still struggles to believe but he sees how it suits Itachi as well)_; and Naruto's doing some thinking over Tsunade's recommendation that he does sage training. It leaves Sasuke alone in the house. Which had been constructive, for the most part, allowing him to finish up the mission report ahead of time, _(he's not going to pick up Kakashi-sensei's habit of handing in minor paperwork late; the ire of the ninjas who work the mission room is not something Sasuke wants to deal with)_.

_(Especially since he has shifts there, occasionally, and being on the shit-list just means you get stuck with the worst paperwork and have to deal with the worst people.)_

Picking up the mission report in question, Sasuke decides to take it in early. There's nothing better to do, after all. He whistles for Takuma, who leaps off the couch and pads to the door, ready to leave. Soon enough, they're out walking through Konoha. It's a good day for it. The sun's shining but it isn't humid or overly warm; it's rather pleasant, for the most part actually. Sasuke would bet his pay that Shika's probably taking a good nap somewhere and enjoying the weather.

The mission room, when he reaches it, is relatively quiet, with only a few other ninjas in it. Then again, it is early afternoon. Most people are probably having their lunch, which is what Sasuke should do actually. Maybe he'll get takeaway from that awesome place on the corner of the street. Heading straight towards a desk with no line, he considers what he'll get. He's craving omusubi with okaka and the vendor knows to add extra tomatoes which makes it all the better.

_(He's always craving omusubi with okaka and tomatoes to be honest.)_

He's just handed in his paperwork and had it accepted when Tsunade pokes her head into the room. "Sasuke! Good, you're here. Follow me."

Sasuke waves his lunch plans away and follows Tsunade into her office. "Tsunade-sama?" He asks. He can't think of any reason for why she'd need to have a meeting with him. Recently, his missions have been going to plan, _(except that one with Team Kakashi, but that was some time ago and he's been keeping his head down since; he hasn't even caused an explosion in a training ground!)_.

"Have a seat," Tsunade says with a wave of her hand. "I just need to get through this bit of paperwork otherwise Shizune will have my head. She found my latest sake bottle and wasn't very impressed so now she's threatening to murder me with paperwork. It's all very rude."

Sasuke takes a seat. It's not normal for most ninjas, especially chūnins, to talk to one's Kage so casually and engage in banter. Then again, Tsunade's probably not a normal Kage either; surely throwing paper weights at your ninjas isn't normal. He didn't know the Sandaime very well, but he has a feeling that the Sandaime didn't do such things.

"Right," Tsunade says, signing something with a flourish. "You're probably wondering why I've called you here."

"Yes."

Tsunade narrows her eyes at him. "You better not be giving me cheek brat!"

"I would never," Sasuke says, before adding, "Tsunade-sama."

"You're on thin ice," his Hokage replies, before continuing. "It's recently come to my attention that you've been performing extremely well in most of your missions, with the exception of those with the other members of Team Kakashi, including missions where you're leading the team." She pauses, seemingly waiting for Sasuke to make some remark, but he stays quiet. He's not sure where this is going. "I've had multiple ninjas who've worked with you, those who've been in the Ninja Corps for longer in various ranks, come forward and suggest that you are a well-rounded ninja and would work on future missions with you. In fact, various have even mentioned that they would support you in a promotion to tokubetsu jōnin."

Sasuke sucks in a breath. Tokubetsu jōnin—that's a massive leap from chūnin. And Sasuke's not even been chūnin for that long really. He hasn't put in any focusses forward either. Although, Kakashi-sensei has mentioned that he'd back Sasuke if he went through the formal procedures for a tracking focus. It doesn't make much sense. He's not got any specialised skill, which is what tokubetsu jōnins are usually known for.

Holding up a hand, Tsunade stops him before he asks any questions. "I'm sure you think that tokubetsu jōnins are usually given to chūnins who have a specialised skill that has reached jōnin level, but their other skills aren't as high. More often than not, this is the case. However, for some, the position simply places them between chūnin and jōnin level, enabling them to take higher levelled missions whilst still allowing them to have the support they need. I'm fairly certain we'll be seeing you promoted to jōnin status in the next couple of years anyway. You and your team. Probably quite a few of your friends as well.

"In short, congratulations Sasuke Uchiha on being promoted to tokubetsu jōnin. I will be expecting you to hand in this paperwork," she continues, handing Sasuke two separate pieces of paper, "by tomorrow evening. Hand it in to your current Corps leader. Furthermore, I am expecting you to have a training focus added to your file by the end of this year. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sasuke says, bowing, his heart caught in his throat, _(and, in the back of his head, something murmurs to him quietly, resentfully, that Toru should be here, but he crushes that thought without remorse)_.

"Dismissed."

* * *

**Day 345**

"I am going to die," Shikamaru tells his teammate, an older jōnin from the Akimichi Clan, who smiles in amusement. "I really am," he adds, slightly unconvincingly. But he is going to die. Actually, properly, die. Because the other option is killing Tsunade and while he might manage that with help, it'll probably involve a coup of some kind and that's far, far too much work. Especially when one considers that the general view of Tsunade as Godaime Hokage is positive and very few people have any criticisms of her rule. But maybe they'd be convinced if they were in Shikamaru's position. Specifically, his position as a leader in being the ambassador of the chūnin exams. There are three other chūnin exams leaders, all are older than Shikamaru by quite a bit but he's proved himself useful and this is a good first step in receiving more diplomatic missions.

Actually, it's probably one of the more diplomatic missions he could receive.

"Alright," Ayako Akimichi says, rather pleasantly, which doesn't help anything. "So do you want me to lead then or Haruna-san?"

Shikamaru sighs. "Fine," he says, finding himself starting to get amused by the thought trail Ayako has presented. "I guess I'll lead."

Throwing her head back, Ayako laughs. "You're the only one who can." Despite the humour in the words, they're surprisingly true. Shikamaru is the only one who can lead the mission. The others are capable, that much is certain. But Haruna is an Inuzuka and prone to anger easily, whilst Ayako is a retired ANBU who's more for back-up than anything else. Ayako's completed diplomatic missions successfully before, but never as the leader, and out of the three, Shikamaru's the one who's done the most organisation with the chūnin exams.

Although, it could be worse. He's on the group heading towards Iwagakure, having gone through Kusagakure. On the way back, they'll go through Takigakure. Another group has to get to Kirigakure despite the recent changes in leadership there, _(of which very little is known). _The third group gets to go through Shimogakure and then to Kumogakure, which is the worst village to deal with due to their antagonistic relationship with Konoha, heightened in the past decade by the attack on the Hyūga Clan. The last group have it the easiest, going through Amegakure, Ishigakure, Sunagakure, and then Tanigakure.

Before he left, the exam proctors had been finalised. Shikamaru's rather curious to see what Naruto will be like as an exam proctor, especially with Sakura on standby. Many of the other exam proctors from last time, such as Genma and Anko, have also been placed as exam proctors again. It's looking like it'll be a rather interesting exam, if nothing else.

* * *

**Day 357**

The bird flies gracefully through Tsunade's open window, landing on the edge of her desk where no paperwork sits. Tsunade blinks at it in astonishment. Shizune, who'd just been calling Tsunade out on all the paperwork she hasn't done, is staring at it in shock.

The bird, seemingly unaware of all of this, preens its wing, before extending a single leg to Tsunade.

"Is that-" Shizune cuts herself off, appearing at a loss for words. Tsunade feels the same way.

Reaching out, the Godaime Hokage carefully takes out a slip of paper from the bird. She unravels it, smoothing the edges, and stares down at the storage seal. Above the seal, a symbol rests—one Tsunade could draw in her sleep.

"Uzushio," she breathes out, barely avoiding stuttering the word. Uzushio's been dead and long gone for decades now. But… Tsunade can just remember it. The colour, the joy, the kindness casually handed out like it didn't matter. She swallows. Her anger and grief goes with it. She will ruin whoever thinks they can use Uzushio's symbol for their twisted aims.

The bird caws and looks rather disapprovingly at both of them. It takes two steps and places its foot on the storage seal—or what looks like a storage seal, at the very least—and flares its chakra.

Shizune and Tsunade leap backwards. The hidden ANBU quickly prepare themselves for action.

The bird stares them down. A hand-written letter sits in front of it. The bird caws at them, yet again.

Tsunade has a faint feeling she's been judged and found wanting. With her shaking hands, she picks up the letter. The bird looks at her. Shizune looks at her.

_(The world is watching her.)_

Glancing at the bird's leg band, she makes out the Uzushio symbol on it. It reminds her of Uzushio, because that's what they did. The bird—a skua, _(the birds that Uzushio used to send important messages)_—shakes itself and caws.

Tsunade reads the message.

_(And her heart beats faster with each word, because they ring with truth. Uzushio is back. Uzushio is alive. Uzushio is coming to Konoha.) _

Somehow, Tsunade's sure, Team Kakashi is behind all of this.

_(They aren't, and she knows that, but it makes her feel better.)_

* * *

**Day 376**

It's been a year since Toru left. Sasuke bows his head in front of Shisui's grave. Sakura rests on his left and Naruto sits on his right. In front of him, the grave is cold, but a few flowers left behind still hold their colour add warmth to the grave.

Sasuke directs his gaze at the plants that decorate the sides of the grave stone—red-orange tulips. Itachi planted them, and had mentioned in passing to Sasuke that Shisui would've appreciated them for the colour and the way they look like fire.

They're bigger than when Sasuke was last here, no longer small growths poking timidly out of the ground. They stand out now, taller than the grass around them, proud and unafraid of the world around them.

One of them even has a flower and Sasuke directs his words at the flower, whispered under his breath. "Bring him home to us,_ please_."

_(Shisui is dead and gone and Sasuke knows this. But… he hopes, somehow, that Shisui will hear his words and bring Toru back. It's been so long and Sasuke misses him. The ache has grown less, but the gap has only gotten bigger.)_

Inhaling, Sasuke stands up. Sakura wraps an arm around his shoulders and Naruto grabs his hand, squeezing tightly. "Let's go," Sasuke says.

_(As always, he is thankful that he has teammates at his sides.)_

* * *

**Day 373**

Konoha experiences in the influx of foreigners as everyone starts arriving for the chūnin exams, including those from Uzushio.

* * *

**It's been three-hundred-and-seventy-three (_zero)_ days since Toru left Konoha, _(not that Konoha knows that)_.**

* * *

_**I****_ started writing notes and then I lost all the notes. All of them. Oh well, here we go again (cue th_e ABBA music according to my brain).**_

_**This chapter starts with a mission report. Primarily because I couldn't be bothered writing an entire mission out. I wanted to write Uzushio. You want to read Uzushio. Everyone wants Uzushio, so I took this route instead, and I'm pretty happy with it in all honesty. Originally, this mission was meant to include Naruto as opposed to Sasuke, but I failed to read the notes properly as I was actually adding details and writing it, so here we are.**_

_**Anyway, Tsunade makes a horrific mistake. She assumes that Team Kakashi had a moment of bad luck. She is very much wrong. Team Kakashi is bad luck. I mean, it's also good luck since they always escape and make it out alive, but their luck is just... horrid. On the other hand, they did make it to the last day this time without anything happened. So, they're improving (and Naruto thinks they deserve an award for it, honestly; thankfully, Sakura stops him from saying so because she doesn't want to drag him to the hospital due to a finicky concussion courtesy of Tsunade).**_

_**Now, despite the appearance that Sakura portrays in front of most authority figures, she is also an absolute brat like the rest of her team. She just possesses a better understanding of what-not-to-do in social situations.**_

_**The next scene we have is Kurama and Naruto. They've been working pretty well and are getting closer to one another. They probably appear to be advancing at a significant rate. I would not know. But, I mean, Naruto isn't dumb and Kurama wants to help so I'm imagining they get good quickly. I don't have much to say about this, since it's pretty straight forward.**_

_**Shout out to PearlBear and one of our many discussions involving Itachi and daycare.**_

_**A lot of the focus for part 1 hasn't been on the search for Toru, which I think was rather important. A lot of it's actually got Sasuke healing, finding himself, more than anything I believe. It's learning how to exist without fully relying on one person. It's finding his own balance. It's also dealing with his grief and facing it face-on (I feel like I'm saying face or variations of it too much right now). But, most importantly, it's Sasuke looking out for himself, placing his own care before his search. I quite like the point that Sasuke knows he can't ruin himself searching for Toru, just like he knows it's not his fault that Toru left (and it's taken some time for him to get there, but I'm so so proud of him).**_

_**I've attempted to add humour scattered throughout this chapter. I'm not sure how it all goes, since I'm not great at writing humour, but I hope some of you laugh! Let me know what you think.**_

_**I don't have too much to say about Shikamaru's part. He's just doing helpful things to advance the plot and inching closer to achieving his dream really.**_

_**Eyyyy, who's appreciating our first mention of Uzushio in this book so far? Well, not quite, Naruto mentions it in regards to sealing, but otherwise this is the main scene where Uzushio's mentioned as a village, an alive village, for that matter. I hope I managed to succesfully portray Tsunade's reaction to it.**_

_**I think Day 376 can go unmentioned, it's the 22nd of September and Toru's been gone for a year.**_

_**We will be revisiting Day 373 in part 3, I can confirm.**_

_**Most of all, I'd like to point out my last line and how proud I am of it. I do hope you enjoy the end of part 1 and look forward to part 2 (kicking off a year in the past when Toru leaves Konoha).**_


	13. Part 2: Tidewater

_**Review responses: **_

_**TigrezzTail - Thank you for your lovely words! I'm glad the humour came across well, it was a worrying point. And yes! Sakura's reaction to Tsunade is fantastic and one of my favourite moments for Part 1. And yes! You put it so well about Jiraiya and destiny and predestination and all those things.**_

_**LadyMidnightBat - It is! I hope these chapters (and the double up) tide you over (ha, pun) for a bit! There's a way to go before we see the results of the ending of the last chapter. But it should be fun when we get there! **_

_**Shadeos03 - Sasuke got wolf summons, yep! And Orochimaru will show up at some point (we saw him messaging Anko in another chapter) and his interactions with Toru, however brief they may be. And Danzo is dead - he died in Current Strength (second book in the series). Thanks for commenting!**_

_**Paulavara140 - I'm glad to hear that! Enjoy these two chapters with Uzushio.**_

_**Random Wingithingy - Thank you so much for your review! I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed these books. The behind the scenes stuff was a lot of fun, I will admit! And if you enjoyed all the admin stuff, hopefully some of Uzushio's chapters will be really interesting for you as well. And thank you for catching that typo! It should've been 365 days, rather than 376. I'm not sure what happened there - just wrote it down incorrectly somewhere and it carried across everywhere. Thanks for mentioning it! **_

_**Warnings: This chapter deals quite heavily with grief and indirectly implies Toru has PTSD without explicitly mentioning it. Death is a constant companion for Toru at this point in time. **_

* * *

**Day 0**

Toru Uchiha runs. Heading eastward, he doesn't pause or offer himself any breaks in his marathon journey because _Uzushio_ is waiting for him. Uzushio's already been waiting for so long and he refuses to let her wait any more than she has to. And yet, despite travelling quickly, he uses everything he knows about stealth and hiding because he doesn't want to be tracked—can't be tracked when Uzushio is unprepared,_ (he will not let her fall again, not to an invasion or her enemies or those he brings to her shores unknowningly)_.

He keeps to the upper branches of the trees, on weak branches that dip and sway under his weight and where few dare to travel, _(and it is dangerous but he is loving it and living it and Uzushio will catch him if they break beneath him; he knows it deep in his soul)_. He's above everything here, the ground below seems so very far away; and the leaves give way to sunlight and the sky more than anything else.

Still, he occasionally ducks down to the ground, cutting through streams to ensure his scent is hidden, _(and no one should track him but he is a ninja and tries to prepare for the unexpected)_. For the most part, he takes the most direct route towards where Uzushio lies, _(and he knows it, in his mind and in his heart and in his soul)_. Something tugs him forward, a pull that grows stronger with every step and with every stride. Toru has a feeling it's not just his imagination either, _(its in his bones, its in his blood)_.

_(It isn't his imagination. It's Uzushio calling her last Uzukage back to her because too much time has passed. She doesn't begrudge him for it, not when he has healed in a way she couldn't have managed alone, not when he has done so much for so many others, not when he has sowed the seeds for Uzushio's legacy while she was broken in ruins and rubble and dried blood lay bare on her stones, staring up at the blazing sun.)_

The wind that tickles the treetops wraps itself around Toru, playfully tugging on his hair. In response, he lengthens his stride and pushes himself to go faster and faster. The wind doesn't seem to outrace him, instead keeping pace like it's cheering him on, silent but known. It's wonderful and wild and Toru pushes himself more and more and more—and he keeps going. Nothing can stop him now. There's nothing left to hold him back.

_(All he wants to see is the ocean and Uzushio ahead.)_

* * *

**Day 3**

The trees start spreading further and further apart, the branches that had once twisted and weaved themselves together distance themselves from one another, until their leaves barely brush one another. All too soon, _(but not soon enough)_, Toru can no longer leap from branch to branch, and—instead—lopes across the ground in steady strides. He reaches the beachside town just as the sun breaks the horizon, reaching out with individual rays to welcome the world into morning, _(and something in the back of his head whispers 'fitting')_.

Unsurprisingly, the town is already awake, boats slipping away from their moorings as fishermen head out to sea for their daily work. And, despite the growing warmth of the sun, Toru cannot shake the biting cold of dawn; it's sharp and keeps him sharp in turn, and he can't quite bring himself to mind it. But Toru's attention is not focussed on the coolness of the morning nor is it on the boats bobbing on the ocean. No, his attention is solely focussed on the horizon where he knows Uzushio lies hidden from both the world and his vision.

On the edge of Hi no Kuni's shores, Toru fights back tears, because Uzushio is so, so close, but it's just out of reach. Pulling himself out of his stupor, he takes a bigger look around, paying more attention this time round. He's in a port town, which he knew already, but it's one he's visited a few times as an Uzu-nin. The port's not as busy as it once was, even if it is rather early. Toru can remember, though, the way crowds once gathered on the port as people went out to fish, the laughter and shouts of the morning markets, _(and isn't it awful how the end of a village brought so many problems on those who relied on it for trade?)_.

There are many things that are awful, many things that have fallen to ruins—not just Uzushio, _(and it hurts, still hurts, that Uzushio lies in ruin, but the pain is something less biting and sharp and jagged)._ And Toru aches for all of it. Still, Toru cannot solve these people's problems, cannot bring trade to them, but with Uzushio, he might be able to help.

Uzushio which lies just over the horizon. But the whirlpools and their seals—it's something he has to get past, but if you get too close to one of the whirlpools, it'll suck you down even if you try to use chakra to prevent it. The only way to get to Uzushio is to avoid the whirlpools, _(but he doesn't know their paths anymore)_.

There's a sigh on his lips but the taste of bitter defeat is far from his tongue. A hand drops on his shoulder and he flinches, spinning around, _(away from Uzushio)_. His heart pounds, frantic. He meets the eyes of the person who'd interrupted his thinking, _(his staring)_. It's an old woman—around fifty, he would say at a guess.

Her hair is tied back in a short ponytail at the base of her head. At the corner of her mouth and eyes, wrinkles rest, pointing to a life of laughter and smiles. There are signs that point to a life of hardship as well, but they're lost amongst everything else. "Do you want to go home?" The woman asks, blunt and gruff, but there's something kind, gentle, beneath her tone.

_(She had seen Uzushio ninjas for many years before the village fell. She remembers what they looked like, remembers how friendly they were, remembers how they tried to help. And this lost and grieving ninja, because he is a ninja without a doubt, looks like them.) _

"Yes," Toru says, the word twisting itself on his lips and falling over itself to get out, _(and maybe he made Konoha his home, but he can't call it his home now, now that he's abandoned it and Uzushio has always, always been home)_.

_(He doesn't think to wonder how this woman saw him as an Uzushio citizen—and it doesn't matter either. He's always been Uzushio's and Uzushio's always been his, theirs, everyone's.)_

The old woman meets his eyes, grief tightening the corners, and her hands are gentle as they rest on his shoulders. He's taller than her, by quite a bit, and she raises her hand and pushes some of his hair behind his ears. He allows her to but he's not sure why. Normally, he doesn't let strangers touch him, but this woman, with her gentle hands and old wrinkles, seems to know him. She shifts her hand to his shoulder and applies pressure, lightly.

"Sit," she tells him or maybe commands him. He's not sure. He feels lost.

He sits down.

After moving a crate behind him, she sits down and runs her hands through his hair, separating strands. It tugs, slightly, but she keeps her hands soft and Toru doesn't feel any pain. There's something soothing about the repetitive motions and he lets his back rest against her legs. He doesn't understand why something in him seems to no longer ache at this, but he's grateful regardless, _(it's been a long time since Toru has been offered comfort without offering something of himself in return; others have tried, but they didn't know what it was for and so could never help properly)_.

Then, the fisherwoman separates a small part of his hair, curving from the front of his head, above his ear, to the end of the strands. Closing his eyes, he just breathes. In and out, over and over.

_(You should always give yourself a few minutes to just breathe, to just be. You deserve to be alive, deserve to be here, and sometimes you should remind yourself that you are alive and you matter.) _

As he breathes, he notices the slight pull on the bits of hair the fisherwoman had separated. He raises a hand, running fingers over the new braid. It's familiar in style and it's old, something from a past he has never lived with this body and this hair. A hand taps his fingers and he puts his hand back in the lap as the fisherwoman finishes off the braid. She secures it with a bead chipped and worn and scratched; it's old and shimmers red like light glancing off an orange-red fish underwater, _(seals as old as Uzushio's fall are hidden within it, those that say look away, don't notice me, when activated)_.

"You are Uzushio's and you are our ally," the fisherwoman tells him. "You will know in time what our bead does and you will always deserve it. Uzushio was ours too, once, no matter that we live in Hi no Kuni."

Toru swallows because this is meaningful, symbolic. The bead the fisherwoman has given him marks Toru as an ally to the fishermen of Hi no Kuni. It's important, something of Uzushio that Toru has always lacked in this life. Because Uzushio spoke through hair appearances quite a lot, primarily through braids. Each clan has a specific braid with something attached to it—a certain bead or a ribbon or a feather and so forth. Civilians even had their own kind of braids, mainly marking them as belonging to a certain craft or their allies. Some people only had their clan braids while others only had their crafts, such as fishermen.

However, for those who didn't have long hair, they could be stitched onto clothes or hitai-ate. They were always placed somewhere visible, because it was something to be proud of. Everyone had at least one—because they were born. It means Uzushio and love and so much more, _(and the most wonderful thing was that no one tried to compete for them or anything)._

Toru Mizushima had few, but he treasured the ones he had, _(Toru Uchiha-Uzumaki had none, once, but now he has one)_.

"I was a fisherwoman, once upon a time," the old woman says, breaking Toru away from his thoughts, _(away from his grief). _"I've left most of the business to my family now. Still, I'm strong and capable. I can take you to the edge of the whirlpools. There is no pattern anymore and they're always changing so I cannot take you further."

"That's far enough," Toru says, because it is. It's more than enough. He will get past the whirlpools, somehow, but he needs to conserve his energy.

_(He does not know it yet, but he is not alone. He has never been alone. Maybe he has had to do most things by himself, only able to rely on himself and his skills, but Uzushio has been there. And now, near the edge of Uzushio's land, the village itself can welcome him to the best of its ability. Toru will not go alone nor will he encounter any traps Uzushio has laid down, because Toru is Uzushio's last Uzukage and the village is waiting to welcome him home.)_

The woman leads him to a small dinghy. It bobs across the water and, powered by the old fisherwoman's strong strokes, seems to dance across the surface of the ocean. The woman aims her boat towards the main island of Uzu no Kuni, at the shortest route to Uzushio, which lies on the opposite side.

_(People like to talk about Uzu no Kuni like it was one island, rather than five. They don't mention how Uzushio barely took up a quarter of the main island, that there had been smaller villages scattered across the country. Because Uzu no Kuni was a country and that's been forgotten, with Uzushio's fall, with the destruction that Kirigakure had brought. The country may have been small, but it boasted approximately sixteen villages and Uzushio. Most of the country was farmland and sectioned off for that use alone, but it had still been a prosperous place. There was a reason Uzu-nins were known and it wasn't just for their seals.)_

"I can't go any further," the old woman says, at last, metres away from the first whirlpool. She reaches out, resting a hand on Toru's cheek, and he leans into it, can't help but lean into it. "You are good child, remember that. You deserve goodness and you are good. You will always matter."

Toru swallows. Something in him wants to claim that he isn't a child, because he is thirty-three fifteen forty-eight, but he doesn't think she's calling him a child for his age. He leans forward and rests his forehead against hers. "Thank you," he whispers.

She smiles and closes her eyes. "Bring them home," she says and, when she opens her eyes, she is alone in the boat. She watches as Toru stands, balancing on the water, centimetres from the first whirlpool. Its roar is loud, even from a distance, and the ocean keeps tugging her dinghy towards it. There is nothing she can do aside from wait, so she turns her boat around and starts rowing back, her eyes lowered to the water around her.

_(She will not wait for him. He is not her saviour. He is a person with a good-heart who will bring Uzushio back. But she is old enough and wise enough to know that such a thing will take time and will not happen quickly. She has given him all the aid she can and good fortune will be hers in return. He will see to it.)_

_(It is Uzushio's way, after all.)_

Meanwhile, back before the whirlpool, Toru bows his head to it and closes his eyes. The sound of the ocean is loud in his ears, all he can hear really. Uzushio's island lies ahead of him, a dark outline on the horizon. There's a pull on his bones, something that is decades old. His chakra levels are steady and high. The world around him is urging him forward even though there is no path. The whirlpool is within reach of a step.

Uzushio is within reach.

Uzushio.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

_(You are not alone.)_

Breathe in. Breathe out.

_(Uzushio waits for you.)_

Breathe in. Breathe out.

_(Come home, my child.)_

Breathe in. Breathe out.

_(It is time.)_

Eyes snap open and he drops into a sprint, because Uzushio is calling him home and has been for years. The whirlpool divides around him and the world cries out in welcome. Any whirlpool in his path mysteriously stops and then starts, once he's passed. The waves arch up and he rises over them. The water sticks to his legs, droplets clinging to his hands, to his face, and it welcomes him home. The wind howls, sea-salt ridden, and it is what he should have had at birth.

The world remembers Uzushio's seals but Uzushio knows best the wind and the sea. Toru knows them too. He knows it all.

There is joy here, to be found in the ocean's waves and the sea wind and the vanishing whirlpools. He laughs, letting it spill out, and it is a song.

_(It is the first sound of laughter that Uzu no Kuni has heard in a long, long time.)_

Eventually, _(all too soon and yet not soon enough)_, Toru lets the chakra fade from his feet, and he sinks past the water's surface, resting on sand with water lapping around his ankles. He is so close to the shore, but a massive barrier stands in the way. One that he doubts anyone else would see because this is a barrier of Uzushio's making. It is thousands and thousands of seals made throughout the years and sweat and tears, _(and the blood of a village's people running down the streets)_, and chakra given through lifetimes. This is not a single individual's making but a team project that has been made through decades. It is amazing and awe-inspiring and _in Toru's way_.

The barrier has seals inscribed that Toru can see but he doesn't care. Instead, he grins and flares his chakra and the massive dome fractures and collapses, disappearing as if nothing was ever there.

Toru takes a step forward—out of the water and onto the beach.

There is no sound but that of the waves crashing against the shore. But then, the moment passes, and the calls of seabirds overhead can be heard. The sound of thundering hooves distracts Toru and he watches as a herd of horses of some kind charge up the beach, barely shying when they notice him. They look like some of Uzushio's special breeds, but slightly different, _(time has made its mark on everything)_.

He breathes in. He breathes out. He steps forward.

There's a stream to his immediate right, one that will run into Uzushio through the farmland meeting up with another river in Uzushio's centre, he knows.

He breathes in. He breathes out.

Following the river at a run, he takes in the new Uzu no Kuni around him. And- And the thing is that he's been so focussed on Uzushio that he'd partially forgotten what it had meant for Uzu no Kuni. When Kirigakure had come, they hadn't come just for Uzushio. They couldn't have come just for Uzushio. Uzushio's ninjas are spread out at all times, littered through outlooks and border posts at the very least. Kirigakure had gotten to them to. They had razed the land itself—the islands beyond Uzushio's shorelines, across the bay and the channels. All those people had died because they weren't protected by Uzushio's strongest wards. They lay dead because Toru hadn't gotten to them in time. He'd been concentrating so much on Uzushio and her people that he'd never given a thought to those beyond Uzushio, beyond his reach. And they should have been protected. They were his responsibility.

Toru had been Uzukage and he had failed his people.

_(He has always failed his people.)_

When he reaches the farmland that had surrounded Uzushio, he slows down. There had been fences, once. There are none anymore. Not even a wooden post fallen over swallowed by the grass remains. Kirigakure had been thorough. There are broken farmhouses, holes in their roofs, walls crumbled and crumbling. There are stables and pens, ruined on purpose and by nature. And, kami, he can't even begin to imagine how this had looked when it had first happened.

Being here now, though, he can't help but be thankful that it is years later. For all that he regrets leaving his people to wander alone, he doesn't know if he could have handled the dead land. The land around him is alive. It's flourishing. It's out of control and wild and it'll take time and work and chakra to get the land back into shape. But the foundations are there and they are strong. Uzu no Kuni will live again.

_(But will Uzushio?)_

From the farmland, there is no sight of Uzushio, which is to be expected. Uzushio has no walls like Konoha, nothing strong and tall and defensible. Uzushio has various entries, all known about and all guarded, but they are not gates.

Uzushio's island is one of rolling hills and steep cliffs. Uzushio itself was born by a bay, opening up with her own port; around her, cliffs rise, worn smooth by wind and chakra and thousands of feet over time.

Slowly, placing one foot in front of the other, he steps up to the edge of the cliff. There's another barrier. And this is one Toru almost feels like he remembers. This is the one that captured the Kirigakure ninjas left and ensured that no one was leaving Uzushio alive with the death of her last ninja. Once again, his chakra rises and lashes out, breaking the barrier down. Unlike the last one, this one simply vanishes, quiet, silent. With its disappearance, Toru can now see-

Uzushio stands tall and complete, yet Toru can see ninjas racing across the rooftops to complete their objectives. Many appear to be wearing random clothes, uniform abandoned for whatever is closest. At many of the exits to Uzushio, including the mainly unused one by the port, there are groups of people leaving. Unlike the civilian groups that had already gone, these ones lack any wagons hitched to horses. Instead, they carry what they own in their bags, trying to pack a life into something small.

_(He wonders how many of them will make it.)_

He lifts his eyes away from them, glancing at the harbour. Where there had once been fishing boats bobbing around to catch fish for the day, there's only the destroyed boats dragged up to shore and added to various barriers made to stop the approaching enemy. The vast majority of the ships have already left, carrying civilians, specifically those who couldn't make the trek across the island, away. The other ships that remain have been sunk in the harbour, blocking the pathway of the oncoming fleet, and filled with explosives.

His eyes fix themselves on the Kirigakure ships coming towards them. Smoke forms a backdrop for it all and he can smell it on the wind still. Thankfully, the wind is coming from behind them, so they aren't receiving the black ash fall that they'd been getting the past few days, _(how can he be thankful for such an awful thing?)_.

"They're about to hit the first bomb," someone says softly from his left.

And so they are. He isn't entirely sure where it is, hidden beneath the waves as it is, but he trusts his ninjas. If they say it is there, then it must be. He waits and watches.

The leading fleet ship manages to bypass it, but the one on its immediate left goes up in flames, exploding with noise and sending debris flying. Instantly, havoc strikes. Another ship loses its mast from flying pieces of the first ship. He can almost hear the screams of the dying and shouts of pain, _(from another period of his life filled with war and war alone)_.

-nothing.

Toru gasps, panting for breath but failing. He leans over, placing his hands on his knees as his vision flickers, patches of black appearing. His heart is pounding like it needs to escape out of his chest. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows he's shaking.

Suddenly, he's sitting down, his legs fallen out from underneath him. He's lucky he didn't fall off the cliff edge. That'd be an awful end for Uzushio's last Uzukage. He wheezes out a laugh and presses the heels of his palms into his eyes, feeling the pressure, trying to ground himself. What a pathetic picture he paints. He can't even get to the village without having a flashback. Maybe Uzushio brought the wrong person back.

The wind flutters around his face, gentle, _(uncertain)_. He breathes in. He breathes out. And he gets to his feet, remembers hands twisting his hair, remembers shoulder bumps, remembers hugs, remembers naps pressed together, remembers love freely given. Maybe Uzushio brought the wrong person back—but he's also one of the only ones that could've been brought back. There's a reason none of the Uzushio citizens came back, despite the fact that Kirigakure had no idea anyone had survived.

_(Uzushio brought **him** back. He has to believe that she made the right decision.)_

Below him, Uzushio is just—wrong. On various levels. It doesn't look like what the village should look like. Almost all the rooves are gone; the twisting and curving slopes containing more holes than areas intact. Some of the buildings still hold their faded colours of cream and red and blue. However, the vast majority are just in ruins, rubble spread across the streets. It's almost impossible to identify the various structures and sections of the village. There's bits of greenery crawling up crushed walls and spreading out across the paths. But what he's most grateful for is that he can't make out any bones, _(he knows that there will be skeletons down there and, most of all, he knows that he will know many of them by name)_.

There is a small part of his mind that tells him he could turn around and leave. That no one knows he came here and no one really knows he exists. He could disappear forever and nothing would change.

_(Did you hear? Once upon a time, there was a boy-)_

He shuts that part of his mind down as he always has.

_(Did you hear? Once upon a time, there was a girl-)_

There's no way he can abandon Uzushio, abandon his people, and those who aren't his, but could be. Will be. There was once a country razed to the ground and left alone, but nature reclaimed it and brought it back, made it into somewhere that could support new populations.

_(Did you hear? Once upon a time, there was a child-)_

He breathes in, something harsh and gentle at the same time. Uzushio reaches out to him, chakra beneath the land pulsing beneath his feet, a heartbeat all on its own.

_(-and someone reached out and told them-)_

There are various ways down the cliff. Through tunnels made by hand and also by racing the wind down the cliff, something that only Uzu-nins with a few years of experience dare to do, knowing that if you do something wrong, the cliff will force you off with a pulse of chakra.

_(-you matter; you have always mattered-)_

Seals, after all, are a wonderous invention.

_(-and he didn't die-)_

The village stands below in all its ruined glory and Toru stands above, alive and well. Beneath his feet, Uzushio welcomes him with slow, peaceful pulses of chakra, and the wind embraces him like an old friend.

_(-she didn't die-)_

The village stands below in all its ruined glory and Toru stands above, alive and well. Beneath his feet, Uzushio welcomes him with slow, peaceful pulses of chakra, and the wind embraces him like an old friend.

_(-she didn't die-)_

He does not close his eyes, even if such things might have made this easier, but he steps forward, down the cliff, eyes wide, and he races the wind.

_(-they didn't die-) _

The world blurs around him and the wind howls in joy, in excitement, in welcome. And Toru laughs, unsure whether he's falling or running, but loving it all. This is Uzushio. She is not glorious nor is she beautiful, but she _is_. And that's enough. It has always been enough.

_(-and the boy who said that became a dragon, protecting those beneath his wings-)_

His foot hits flat ground and he stands in Uzushio proper for the first time since his death. It is the first time anyone has stood in Uzushio for decades.

_(-that boy was always going to return to Uzushio and bring his people to them-)_

Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat.

_(-because everyone deserves a home, and he will give it to them.)_

Step forward.

It's awful, seeing the destruction in front of him, but Toru made his way through the farmland, knows that there are the broken remains of other villages out there, knows that the other islands are just as dead as this one. But he knew what he was going to say coming into this. Abstractly, maybe, but he still knew.

He stares at the broken entrance building, at the broken wall that contains half of Uzushio's symbol. "We're coming back," he tells it, promises it. "We're all coming _home_."

It's true, he knows it, but saying the words aloud just make the idea seem absurd. Who would want to come back to this pile of rubble? But- But it's never been about the location, about the appearance. It's about the people, the safety, the refuge.

_(It's so much more than a village, but it's so much smaller too.)_

There's a skeleton resting nearby. Multiple ones, in fact. There's little clothing still intact, but a battered metal plate with a symbol in it still rests—gripped in one hand.

A shiver goes down Toru's spine and fixes itself deep within him, sliding along his bones. There's horror there, guilt of some description, grief, but the rage that was quick to appear is quick to disappear, fading.

_(The guilt is smoothly stolen away too, because he's ANBU and he can rationalise the actions he took, the lives he claimed, and he didn't really fail Uzushio—Uzu no Kuni, maybe, but he thinks that he didn't fail Uzushio. And, even if it did, he can atone for it now.)_

The world around him is dead and alive and it's a strange juxtaposition that leaves him a little bit caught. He almost feels lost, adrift, pulled between two extremes and not knowing which one is right, _(which one is real)_.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Keep walking forward.

The skeletons here have been around for decades and they can remain for a little bit longer. They'll survive, _(and hopefully he will too)_. The mass funerals he'll have to take care of can be a problem for later. First… First he needs to call Uzushio's people back.

_(He can't do this alone and he doesn't have to either.)_

There are seals around, old things inscribed in broken pieces of stone, in cracked pathways, hidden by greenery curling around them. And, beneath it all, Uzushio's chakra rolls and crackles and tugs him, calling him forwards, tugging him onwards.

* * *

**At long last, Uzushio welcomes her Yondaime Uzukage back. But there is much to be done and her people still need to know the truth—that Uzushio is waiting.**

* * *

This chapter actually got split into two, originally reaching like 7K or something before I was like 'This should probably be two chapters', and then I found a splitting point and here we are.

I hope you enjoy 'Day 0' which details Toru's starting journey to Uzushio. I tried to write how fast he's going but how careful he's being, because he is. He could race and run and get to Uzushio faster, I'm sure of that, but he can't lead enemies to Uzushio's shores. He has to be careful. And he doesn't want to be tracked - he doesn't think he will be, but he's taking all the precautions he can. Better safe than sorry, after all.

I haven't mentioned Uzu no Kuni, the country Uzushio is part of, much. And I think that's becasue I/Toru hadn't thought much about it. Too wrapped up in Uzushio, in a village, to think about a country.

The old woman is great and we should all appreciate her. She's seen the fall of Uzushio and lived through its consequences, growing up in a war, and when she sees this lost boy who so clearly belongs to Uzushio, she makes she he understands that he's loved and that he matters.

Massive shout out to PearlBear for putting up with my rambling thoughts on culture in Uzushio (with a specific focus on hair).

For those of you wondering, I've kinda remade Uzu no Kuni since we've got pretty much no information on it. I drew a map for it and placed Uzushio in it and whatnot. It's helpful for figuring things out, even if it's not a fantastic map. But hey, first drafts and all that I suppose.

Once again, we revisit Toru's mental health and his PTSD. I hope I managed to potray it somewhat well, since I have no personal experience for it. And, in taking note about Toru's PTSD, I'd like to talk about something else.

I want to talk about recovery, a little bit. The way trauma changes us. I can't admit to going through something massive or anything. In the grand scale of things, it's something so minor that like... two people actually know how it has impacted me once the event has passed. It's nothing like what Toru has gone through. I'm sure some of you guys have had it worst, (and there's a voice in my head that says it's not about who has it worst, but that doesn't necessarily mean I believe myself).

But... recovery is a path we all kinda take. I lean towards believing that we all travel it. It takes different lengths, different shapes, but the path is the same. Sometimes it's straight and semingly fine and sometimes it circles back on itself. At the time I'm writing this, my "traumatic" event (not so much that it was traumatic, but it impacted me heavily and on occasion still does and I cope but I'm well aware that once upon a time things were different; and yet it's minor in the bigger picture) occurred about a year and a half ago. I was waiting for a friend and went to pet her dog when it turned around and bit me. I'm not sure why, maybe I did something wrong, maybe I didn't, maybe the dog didn't notice me. It's... not great, not knowing the reason, but it's okay to not know it.

The point is - the dog bit me, I have some fading scars on my leg and bigger scars on my arm (6 stitches and one suture for those wondering; the leg didn't get anything cause it was a puncture wound although it hurt like a bitch and took me out of sport for a few days until I could run without pain). And... I can remember, so easily, my parents saying that I wouldn't be scared of dogs after this. And, more importantly, I remember thinking 'I already am'. I've grown up around dogs my whole life. I've known them. I've never had any issues with them at all. But following this? I was fine with dogs I knew. I could handle them. They were safe and I knew that in more than one way. But strange dogs? I had to know where they were and paid attention to that. Just a little thought in the back of my head saying 'hey, there's a dog over there'.

And I remember, half-a-year later, flinching back when a dog I hadn't spotted ran towards me. Only a few metres away, plenty of distance, and yet I flinched. I flinched because that was how it was now. I was scared of dogs. Or maybe not scared. Overly cautious? Who knows. But I also remember walking past two dogs of the same breed as the one who'd bit me. I went as far away as I could from them whilst staying off the road. And I remember thinking 'I did it'. But that's not the point either.

Recovery likes to take all kind of shapes. Sometimes it's walking past a dog without a thought and sometimes it's something smaller. And sometimes it's something massive like being fine around most dogs and not worrying about where they all are, not thinking too much about a barking dog behind me. Sometimes it's remembering being around barking and partially growling dogs the other day and not worrying about it because I trusted my friend to say I was safe and mean it. It's recovery. I'm also aware that only a few months ago, I had an adrenaline rush at a growling dog in another room, remembered refusing to go near it because I just wasn't handling it well. And I know I'm going to go through that again some time. But I also know that I am going to get better at handling these situations. Maybe I'll never be as easy with them as I once was. And maybe that sucks. But I've made my peace with that. It's going to be okay. I'm going to walk in circles and go backwards and shy at unseen obstacles. But I'm going to keep walking this path that's recovery and healing. And... I think Toru's going to do the same. And I am so, so proud of him for being able to do so.

Anyway, I'm going to leave this here, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I adored writing Uzushio and there's some points here that came across well. Even if it's not particularly grief-inspiring, I do hope some of the sadness gets across.

Look after yourselves!


	14. Part 2: Dolour

**_The warnings from last chapter carry across. In case you don't remember, these warnings are for the fact this chapter deals heavily with death and grief. Please, please look after yourselves._**

* * *

Carefully, he picks his way over broken pieces of land, around bushes full of thorns, steering around skeletons whenever he can. And then, in the corner of his eye, he spots it—an intact seal that flashes with light of some kind.

He steps towards it, steps up to it, and brushes his fingers over it. Beneath him, Uzushio's chakra flares, excitement and trust and maybe something else that he can't quite understand. With it, he understands Uzushio's message.

Fingers brush the seal and he feeds it a trickle of his chakra. The seal crackles, glowing briefly, and then the chakra fades. Uzushio, on the other hand, seems to awaken some more, that slow lulling chakra changes somewhat; he couldn't describe how.

Another seal flashes, in the corner of his vision, and when he gets closer to it, one relatively nearby lights up instead. It's like an old children's game—follow the seal sparks. Except this is no game and there are no kids. There's only Toru and a village full of skeletons.

Uzushio's chakra entices him forward and he thinks that she's the one lighting up seals. He has a feeling he knows why too, because-

Because Toru was made Uzukage in a time of war, in a time when defence was needed more than anything else. He was made Uzukage by the people with a dead friend and a dead Uzukage in mind.

And so he doesn't know what he should, wasn't given time to find out everything and learn about it. Uzushio's heart is hidden away, by chakra and by seal and by dozens of measures that prevent anyone from finding it. Toru has no idea where it is or how to go about finding it. But Uzushio wants him to find it.

She shows him the way with seals, with a silent voice on the wind, with pulses of chakra, _(and its kid and gentle and heartbreaking in every way)_.

At last, he reaches the place that Uzushio's been directing him to. It's a small plaza in Uzushio's west that's nestled in the back of a bunch of side-streets. Once a month, the local community used to run a get together, share what they had—whether it be food or stories or something else entirely.

Toru'd gone, a few times, mainly when he'd been on his genin team. After all, his sensei had lived around this area when she'd been teaching them.

He shakes himself out of old memories and turns his attention to the present. It's strange, to think that this small plaza is one of the most important areas in Uzushio. He'd have thought, if anywhere, that Uzushio's heart would be placed near the port where Uzushio's founders apparently stood and called the islands up from the sea. Or perhaps near the Academy, where children of all ages and abilities often play with the seals there. Or anywhere, in the half-dozen locations scattered throughout Uzushio that have historical importance.

And yet, it's here, in this small place, _(and no one ever thinks to look in the small places, in tiny corners, but they're where some of the most important things are hidden)_.

There's no seal that prevents him from accessing Uzushio's heart. Couldn't be. Not with how Uzu-nins generally know quite a bit of fūinjutsu. Tentatively, he reaches out with his chakra, not sure what it'll do but hoping that it'll do something.

_(He puts his trust in Uzushio showing him the way.)_

Nothing appears to change, but Uzushio's chakra echoes his, reaching out. And- And it feels somewhat different now. Almost like it's gained an affinity. It's solid and safe, soft grass beneath your feet, stable ground, dirt beneath your fingernails, gritted teeth.

Earth chakra.

Not what Toru leans to when given the opportunity, but he can manipulate earth chakra somewhat. So he pulls the earth chakra into his fingertips and brushes them across the ground.

The plaza seems to shudder, but the piles of debris don't shift and not a single leaf shakes so maybe it's just him. That's when a hole opens beneath his feet, the ground shifting and spiralling outward. He falls, but lands easily and rolls to get rid of his momentum.

Calling up fire chakra to his fingertips, he looks around, _(there is something about fire chakra that makes him feel more Uchiha than normal; he's not sure what he feels like, most of the time, too caught up with the legacies on his shoulders and there are three clan names he can claim but he can't claim one without feeling like he should claim the others too)_. He's at the start of a tunnel that's sloping downwards and further north, away from the centre of Uzushio.

The tunnel's dark, pitch black as one can expect for something underground. Lifting his hand higher, he walks forward. There are pictures on the walls, hidden by the darkness, but when he pauses to get a closer look, he recognises the images. Or, well, he remembers similar pictures from various histories books. The images show Uzushio's history.

He quickens his pace. The tunnel has to end soon and Uzushio's chakra is growing more frantic, more excited, _(his adrenaline is rushing and he's running and he needs to call his people home)_.

Within ten minutes, he arrives at a room. It's full of seals of all kind. But what grabs his attention is the giant clam sitting in the middle of the room. It stands on a raised bed of stone, reaching Toru's stomach as a result in height. In length, the clam is easily over a metre.

What really catches Toru's attention, however, are the seals engraved into the clam. He stares at it, tracing the lines with his eyes, and then he notices the carved stone sitting inside the clam like a pearl.

A stone carved to be Uzushio's symbol. It's Uzushio's heart, without a doubt.

_(And this is a place Ayumu had been once and where had never been.)_

Between one blink and the next, he gains new information, _(information, not knowledge, because the latter would let him understand and recreate spells whilst the former simply tells him what the entire seal does)_. And- And it's all he needs to know.

He steps forward with Ayumu whispering in his ear.

_(There's a seal, deep within Uzushio, located in her heart. It will be capable of calling all of Uzushio's Clans back to her, due to the seals and the blood we have put into Uzushio's wards. When Uzushio's heart has the seal activated, it will activate the seals in every hitai-ate, and the seals will lead our people home.) _

The ghosts of the past seem to crowd around him, pressing close, and it feels like he should be struggling to breath—but he isn't. He isn't. There are no bodies around him, no hands on his shoulders, no strength at his back. He has himself and only him.

_(Let's hope then, that one of us lives, he'd said once.)_

Uzushio fell and fell and fell and the cliffs stood tall as the ash fell from the sky, as people died. Uzushio died and died and died and no help came, no safety was offered in the aftermath.

He rests a hand on Uzushio's heart. Even without chakra, it pulses, something brilliant and lovely. It's grief and anger and kindness and hope. It's everything and it's nothing. It's too big for words and thoughts and it's all emotions hopelessly tangled.

A single thought is all he can spare to pull on the chakra residing in the seal on his chest. It answers, searing its way through his veins. He is too full and too empty. He is numb and he is overflowing with emotion.

His chakra surges, flares, rises, and curls around him as it enters Uzushio's heart. An ache starts pulsing, deep in his body, as the seal takes and takes and takes his chakra. And he gives it all, without thought or maybe with thought. He gives it all because this is Uzushio and he can give nothing less than his all.

_(This is the first time that Uzushio has ever been fully activated and there is only one person to witness it.)_

Uzushio hums in power, in strength, as she pours chakra into the seal to help Toru. She gives decades and decades worth of chakra, given from Uzushio's Clans and individuals, given freely to power a village's protection.

"I am here," he says or maybe Uzushio says. Or maybe no one says it or even thinks it. Because it just is. It's the truth and it always has been.

_(There are people running, fleeing. Uzushio lies at their backs, dying and screaming and breathing fire. It is dying and they cannot help because going back would result in their deaths—and they were told, they were ordered, to go. To save themselves. To stay alive. They are scared and they are fearful and war is licking at their heels and thirsty for their blood. There is no safety and there is no refuge. They have nothing but grief and heartbreak.)_

"It's time," and the words roll around him, echoing, in his ears, in his mind, in his heart. Or maybe there are no words and it is simply chakra, gathering around him, embracing him. It's Uzushio's and it's his and it's chakra and it's a village that refuses to die and refuses to be forgotten.

_(He reaches out to them, these scared, fleeing people of his. And maybe this isn't true, maybe it's fake, or maybe it's real. He doesn't know and it doesn't matter. He reaches out to them regardless and tells them that they will be alright in the end, that hope lies in the future, that the **sea never dies**.)_

_"Come home._"

* * *

Uzushio's chakra sweeps across the world, reaching out with fragile fingers and brushing them over symbols and seals, brushing across the foreheads of Uzushio's people.

In Minakami, on a wall, in a rather dirty alleyway that's covered in shadows more often than not, a spiral rests. It glows, bright with chakra. To anyone who can sense chakra, it seems to sing, calling out. Across the world, in hundreds of different places, similar spirals do the same. All of them made by a hand from Uzushio, all of them made for this purpose exactly.

They are not the only thing that have changed either, since Uzushio's heart started beating again.

Every hitai-ate that's ever been made and created in Uzushio's starts glowing and, like tracking seals, tug Uzushio's people towards Uzu no Kuni's shores. And people notice quickly because one doesn't ignore when your village symbol starts glowing and calling you elsewhere.

_(No one noticed when the majority of Uzushio's people ran and escaped with their lives. And no one will notice when they start moving again, because they know how to hide, they know what it's like to move like prey, they know fear that's drilled itself into their bones. And maybe now they'll know Uzushio again.)_

* * *

Across the world, many people—even those not of Uzushio descent—feel the call. Some hear 'come' and some 'here'. Uzushio's chakra circles them, nudges them in the right direction. All of them, every single one, hears 'home'.

Uzushio does more than activate the beacons that Ayumu, many decades ago, had expected. Anyone who needs a home or wants one; anyone who is lonely and wants or needs a family; all of them are tugged towards Uzu no Kuni, _(chakra calling to chakra)_.

Everyone will be welcomed at Uzushio and everyone can come to Uzushio. This is the message Uzushio sends out.

In Otogakure, various ninjas pause, unerringly turning south-east where Uzushio lies far beyond their sight.

The Akimizu Clan, making camp for the night in Shimo no Kuni, feel Uzushio's song in their bones. Immediately, they stop, grouping together. The elder ones smile and laugh, relief enshrouding them. They can go home now.

Meanwhile, the majority of the scattered remains of the Uzumaki Clan, spread out across the world, find themselves moving in the direction of their long-lost village.

The Hagoromo Clan celebrate when they feel the call, knowing at long-last their Uzukage is calling them back, giving them a place of safety after so many years without.

In Ishigakure, the Takahashi Clan murmur to themselves and select a group to go to Uzushio, unsure about what to make of the glowing Uzushio symbols and hitai-ate.

Rag-tag groups who've made their peace in the world find themselves at a lost for words. Uzushio is calling for them and they will answer her call.

Uzushio's Clans hear their village and they reach out in return. The Asano Clan, Abe Clan, Kurosawa Clan, and Sasaki Clan all prepare for mass migrations to their village, thought to be left behind and destroyed, forgotten.

Families who are not clans but called Uzushio home, once upon a time, smile, lines of hardship disappearing briefly from their faces. Their home calls them once again and they will return, _(they can hardly do anything else)_.

Merchant trains came to disorganised halts, _(because some people refuse to settle in villages or ports or hidden villages because Uzushio was their home and it fell)_, as heads turn in the direction of Uzushio. They cannot know their village is back, but they do. It's in their bones, in their souls, in their hearts.

Kids left forgotten, calling the streets home, those part of Kakumau and those who are not, feel it. They do not understand but they have nothing left to lose. Their instincts have helped them survive for so long already, maybe this will give them something they've always craved.

In Amegakure, Nagato Uzumaki looks out the window, eastward, before shaking his head and returning to his work, _(his dream ties him to this village and he will not leave it; especially not for whims brought by the wind)_.

Gaara stands in the sun and hears Uzushio. It calls him onward, urges him forward. But Sunagakure stands at his back and he has to prove himself, _(he wants to stay and sometimes that's enough)_.

For the first time in eons, Rōshi feels something other than tired. Exhaustion seems to leech out of him and he turns away from the landscape of his homeland, turns south-east. There is something happening and he has nothing left to lose. He, too, will go.

Similarly, Han moves his gaze from the inviting inn ahead and through the oncoming storm to a place he has never been. And, thoughtfully, wonders whether it is time to expand his travels beyond Tsuchi no Kuni.

Utakata, hidden by fog and by rain, shivers beneath the tree that barely offers shelter. Something in him tugs him elsewhere, urging him away from this place. But he doesn't trust such calls, he is wiser than that, wary.

Wings of chakra and laughter escaping from her, Fū rises higher and higher and _flies_, finally escaping Takigakure. There is somewhere else to be, somewhere better, and with her instincts guiding her, she heads towards Uzushio.

In Konoha, Naruto rolls over in bed, restless, trying to sleep but not able to. Uzushio's symbol appears in his mind for a moment, and then it is lost. He rolls over again and forces himself to sleep. Uzushio's call so faint it might as well be the rustling of leaves.

* * *

The world seems quieter after the seal's been activated. Toru feels exhausted as well, chakra swallowed by the seal. And he can't feel Uzushio's chakra, low and steady and soft.

He crouches, wobbling as he does so, and presses his fingertips against the ground. It feels rougher than he'd expected, hard—but he'd expected that. Slowly and carefully, he reaches out with tendrils of chakra, barely anything but he refuses to overwork himself, _(not now; he doesn't have time to rest and recuperate)_. His sensory range extends, following the thin stretches of chakra.

There!

Uzushio's chakra entwins with his, briefly, and then drops away again. He breathes a sigh of relief. For a moment, he'd been worried that Uzushio had used all of her chakra up, but she hadn't. There's a little bit left.

Not much, though, and that's worrying. It means that they're going to have to pour chakra into Uzushio's seals to get their barriers up to standard. Although, in the back of his head, ideas are starting to come together, ways to improve Uzushio's defences and help her chakra grow.

Those are future issues; there's nothing Toru can do now, especially not alone. He has more pressing concerns currently. If his people are coming, _(and they are, of course they're coming)_, they'll need to get passed the whirlpools. And to do that, he's going to need to put a stasis seal on the ones that control the whirlpools. After all, the whirlpools aren't following any specific pattern like they should be, but it's probably due to seal degradation. No one has been here, after all.

He'll fix that once everyone is here—or when enough people are. He stands up and moves away from Uzushio's heart. There's work to be done.

_(And he cannot sleep, not in Uzushio, not with skeletons watching his every step, with ghosts crowding around him. He cannot sleep elsewhere either, refuses to go anywhere but Uzushio. So he will stay awake—it's just for now, right?)_

* * *

**Day 4**

Toru starts his work with the whirlpool barrier system. It's easy to access—an underground room near one of the ANBU entrances, since it had been run by an ANBU division previously. After that, he tries to figure out where to start.

Uzushio's treasury will remain untouched for now. To access it, Toru needs at least two members from different clans, _(Uzushio was never meant to be one person, one clan)_. It would help, of course, to have members from other clans, but he'll take what he can get, _(whatever it is)_.

There are other areas that have been sealed that Toru will unseal, ones he can do alone. Much of Uzushio's important items had been handed out to its citizens as they ran though, especially resources—food, medical supplies, and so on. Still, the library had everything placed in storage seals which had been sealed away after by their strongest seals. There are mission files and ninja files and records of all sorts. The frantic preparation before Kirigakure had attacked meant that a lot of things had gotten mixed up. It's going to be a nightmare and a half to deal with, but Toru doesn't think he'll mind working through it.

The clan compounds through Uzushio will also need to be opened. Even though most clan members had lived amongst everyone, the clan compounds still existed. They were small, for the most part, made to contain knowledge and help with specific training more than anything else.

Two of Uzushio's clan compounds can be unsealed before anyone comes—the Uzumaki Clan Compound and the Mizushima Clan Compound. The former had been locked with a blood seal, if Toru remembers correctly, so his blood, _(new blood?)_, should be enough to unseal the compound. The Mizushima Clan Compound needs to be unsealed with a specific set of steps, doable by anyone so long as they know what to do.

_(It's all starting to seem like too much. The list of things to do is endless and Toru is alone, even Uzushio's chakra something beyond his reach. And he doesn't mind that; can't mind that. After all, Uzushio gave her all to call their people back. It just means he has to be better, work harder.) _

Breathe in. Breathe out.

_(Take a moment to pause, a moment to think, a moment to breathe. Break things down into smaller goals. You can do this, you just have to find a place to start.)_

He's more grateful than ever to have teachings from his past haunt his head, no matter the ghosts they breathe. He can do this. He just needs to figure out a starting place.

And, considering he's standing in front of the remains of the library, this is probably the best place to start. Unlike Konoha's library, it's only two stories, built low rather than high. Once upon a time, it'd been counted as one of Uzushio's many treasures.

_(And maybe in time, it will be again.)_

Like most of Uzushio, the library also lies in ruins. But they'd planned for that, so Toru simply hops over a pile of scorched wall and enters the welcome hall. What had once been grand and beautiful is little more than broken pieces of an old life. The art that had decorated the walls is long gone, destroyed with time and little care or ruined during the invasion.

Most of the walls are in a sad state, falling over and crumbling in on themselves. Parts of the roof still remains though, providing shade and most of the building's foundations remain. It can be rebuilt.

It can all be rebuilt.

But that's not something that Toru's currently dealing with nor is it something he's equipped to deal with. All the scrolls and books held by the library had been placed in a storage seal within the library.

It had been a trial and a half to do, because they couldn't just leave a storage seal lying on the ground somewhere it could easily be discovered or destroyed, whether by accident or on purpose. As such, it'd taken a few hours of thinking, _(not that Toru had been too involved, there had been many things he'd had helped with, but this hadn't been one of them)_, before someone had come up with the idea.

He enters a room adjacent to the welcoming hall. It's not one he'd visited often—his main memories of it come from D-rank missions with his genin team to clean it. It's a room that serves to keep kids entertained more than anything else. With one wall serving as a chalkboard and various beanbags lying around, it'd been made for kids in mind. The floor had been carpet—it's what laid under the carpet that interested Toru though.

The carpet isn't what it once looked like. It's stained, full of dust, and there are patches of what looks like blood. Toru tries not to think of the reason behind it all, even as he shifts bits of rubble to reach a specific part of the carpet.

Crouching, he pulls out a kunai and sharpens it with a flicker of wind chakra, before using it to cut a square metre of the carpet out. Afterward, he removes the carpet, heaving it up and covering his nose and mouth when dust flies up as a result.

Where the carpet had been, polished sandstone can now be seen. Toru nudges the stone with a sliver of chakra, which bounces back—as it's meant to.

In theory, the stones that make up the library floor have seals on their hidden sides for various reasons—one of which is a barrier, making the stones act like void stones. Until now, however, he'd never seen them properly.

He glances at his hands. There's a scratch on his left from some metal wire he hadn't seen when moving around. There's a small scab, which works perfectly for his plans. He picks it off and squeezes around the injury, until a bead of blood wells up. Smearing it onto the stone, he waits for the barrier to disperse itself.

It remains, unyielding.

"Remember," Toru says or maybe thinks, pressing his fingers against the blood smear and letting his chakra crackle over it. It rebounds, stinging, and he bites back a yelp at it—but the barrier drops down, which is the main thing.

Almost immediately, he extends strengthens his fingers with chakra, tipping them with wind chakra, and forces them between stones, into the grout. It catches under his nails, but he manages to get a grip, fitting his fingers underneath the stone he wants. He lifts, muscles straining, and—ever so slowly—the stone moves, groaning as it does so.

Once he's lifted the stone high enough, he lets it go. It falls upside down, landing on the carpet with a muffled thump. But the noise seems overly loud in this village of ghosts and Toru flinches at it. However, his attention is quickly grabbed by the seal on the back of the stone. It's a storage seal—one hurriedly made, but still made well and up to Uzushio's standards.

The smallest bit of chakra is all that's needed to activate it. Various scrolls appear with small bursts of smoke accompanying them. They're remnants from another time and Toru reaches out, rolling one open with careful fingers. The paper is still crisp, a far cry from the old papers he remembers picking up after the massacre; here, the scrolls have been well kept by the seal, removed from time.

_(And Toru thinks he can imagine how it would all feel—to be caught living in another time, unmarked from the rapid passing of time, but lost in it anyway.)_

There's a multitude of scrolls—over a hundred, he estimates. From the few he unravels, he assumes that most—if not all—are standard sealing scrolls made for scrolls, capable of holding up to sixty items that don't contain chakra.

He should, probably, go through them all and organise them, then draw a storage seal on him that will separate everything so he can easily pull things out when he wants to. But there's so much here—records like mission files, ninja files, hospital records, and so on mixed with the belongings of the library. And he doesn't want to manipulate one of his storage seals, since that requires a second person. Well, he could do it alone, probably, but there's a high chance of the seal rejecting his chakra system if he doesn't get it perfect and he refuses to store all these in a simple storage scroll that can be easily destroyed.

Instead, he starts storing everything into one of the seals on his shoulders. It will be incredibly annoying to deal with later, but right now-

Right now, Toru's just tired.

_(Alone, in a village of ghosts, with nothing to save himself from his own destruction, Toru burns his energy, burns his grief, burns his rage with the work that needs to be done. He ignores the small shaking of his hands, ignores the blurriness of his vision. He has survived for longer periods of time, survived longer with this grief.)_

_(There is a world in what isn't thought. This isn't something Toru's been told.)_

Eventually, at long last, the scrolls are stored away and Toru leaves the library in its ruined grandeur behind. He takes a few steps out onto what should be a street, _(what once was a street)_.

He could unseal the Uzumaki Clan Compound and the Mizushima Clan Compound. But he shouldn't won't. After all, he's not really an Uzumaki. He's got their blood, but he's not one of them. It's a last name but…

_(It is easy to think how he is not one of them. He has lived with them before, yes, but he is not one of them. He has called himself an Uchiha longer than he has thought of himself as an Uzumaki. And that matters. He can't stand up to who the Uzumaki Clan truly are and he's not going to try. There's no point, after all.)_

And the Mizushima Clan should be left for those of the clan. He doesn't think they would mind terribly if he opened it, but those who are still alive, the youngest generation, should have the joy of opening the clan, of learning what home means.

_(And the vast majority of the clan compounds still stand like they did all those decades ago. They were made to stand before everything and not bow down to anything. It would take a lot more than an invasion to bring down a locked-up compound.)_

Almost with a mind of their own, Toru's eyes wander down a path that will take him towards the clan compounds. A glimmer of white catches his eyes and his stomach drops, swooping low, and threatens to rise up his throat because-

Because-

Breathe in. Breathe out.

_(Just keep breathing. If that's all you can do, then just keep doing it.)_

He fights the nausea down, yanks on the overwhelming grief that rises in his throat and shoves thorns through his heart. He will keep breathing. He will keep living. He can do nothing else.

Except, that's not true is it?

Toru's people are coming, _(and they will come; they will, they will, they will)_, and he can't leave the village like it, because the village looks broken—not that it is broken. It's far from broken. But it looks broken. There's no safety in these ruins, no shelter in the crushed buildings. All they have are memories, ghosts, rubble, and skeletons. He can't do much about the memories. Or the ghosts. Or the rubbles. But the skeletons—he can do something about them, he's sure of it.

Mass funerals in Uzushio are things that Toru has never had to plan—thankfully. That changes now. Today. He knows what to do, has seen them, has attended them when he was younger.

For the Uchiha Clan, they had everyone cremated—the fire in their blood burning their bones. And, if they weren't cremated, people were buried. It's what usually happens in Konoha.

Uzushio didn't tend to bury her people. On occasion, they did, but more often than not they sent their people out to sea to be taken by the whirlpools. They usually burned their people as they did, sending the smoke high to be taken by the wind. Legend says that people use the smoke to ascend. Toru's not sure if it's true, but he likes the idea of the dead being guided to the afterlife by those still alive.

Nevertheless, that's not the point. Toru drags his wandering attention back on track. He'll hold a funeral on the coast—it'll be a fire funeral, more than anything else. He can't really do much else, not where there are so many dead. The hitai-ate will be helpful, though, letting him identify each body and whether they were Kiri-nin or Uzu-nin.

He picks up one bone. It's dry and feels strange beneath his fingertips. In the back of his mind, he vaguely wonders that if he presses hard enough, the feeling of the bone with all its notches and grooves will engrave themselves into his fingertips. The world feels strange around him, almost unreal, as he stands with a bone in hand—and it's not like he hasn't handled human bones before but this is different, somehow.

He picks up another bone, because there is a village to get through that contains skeletons. There is little time to waste, especially if he wants to get this done before anyone arrives.

After pausing for a moment to think, he picks up the Uzushio hitai-ate and wraps it around his wrist. He'll… figure out what to do with that later.

* * *

With each individual bone, the pile grows, _(and the fact the bones aren't connected makes things almost easier for him, allows him to think of these bones as parts rather than people, allows him to press the guilt into a smaller box—and maybe that's not healthy, but it's how he's managing to step forward, so he thinks it's okay)_, and grows and grows.

Each Uzushio hitai-ate is wrapped around a pillar of earth that Toru had called off. He's not sure what to do for them. This is a memorial, but he needs more input, needs someone else's opinion. Because this is for all of them—for those who died and those who fled and those survived and those who were born without a home.

The silence is overbearing with its loudness and Toru bites back another sigh. The only thing he can really hear is the waves crashing against the shore. It seems so soft, _(so pointless)_.

There are no more Uzushio skeletons he can access, _(but there will be people buried beneath the rubble, he knows, but he cannot reach them, cannot help them)_. This is all of them—all their bones, all that's left, in the end.

_(Tears drip down his face, slowly, and they are anything but kind. This is the grief that stays hidden in his heart, in his soul, a thing only seen in glimpses that is too big and too deep to be understood by anyone else.)_

A twist of chakra and a few hand seals later, fire roars around him. It's a dragon made of fire, the rippling flames making it look more fluid than it should be. The main difference between it and the one used in fighting, however, is the blue flames that form a swirl on the dragon's forehead—Uzushio, in symbol and in colour.

The dragon swirls around him, flames brushing across his shoulders without burning him, and the heat gently envelops him. Then, the dragon sweeps skyward, arcing upwards, before crashing down towards the pile of bones, smoke trailing from its mouth. It slams into the middle and disappears, leaving a brightly burning mound behind.

He stands alone, watching as the smoke spirals into the sky, until only embers remain.

And, ever so slowly, he turns his gaze to the other pile of bones—those belonging to Kiri-nins.

He could hide them beneath the world's surface, bury them, leave the unnamed and unknown. But they were people.

They were people.

_(A genin, so young, cowering in the corner, hiding, but there because there had been orders and they can't disobey.)_

People ordered to attack, who maybe had no escape. People who died and died and died like everyone else. And they killed Toru's people—he will hate them for that. But those who did it… They're long gone. Kirigakure had just been a tool, anyway. He knows that now.

They deserve a funeral too, these people of mist and islands. There is no one else who can provide it for them—it has to be Toru.

He doesn't know how Kirigakure holds their funerals and he won't grant these people an Uzushio funeral—he won't. Emotions war in his mind, logical thoughts lost behind them. He's not sure what to do, but he will honour these people. Remember them, even if he won't mourn them. Mourn the loss of their lives, maybe, but not the fact that they died. They died so his people could live and that will always be a better outcome than the alternative.

They're all people in the end, no matter what separates them and divides them. They're only people, emotions and logic wrapped up, fire burns in all their veins.

And, well, that gives rise to a thought. Flashing through a few hand seals, Toru breathes out a fireball. It hits the pile of bones, rapidly turning it all to ash. There's no long wait this time. And, when there's little left, Toru calls a wave of water to sweep the ash out to sea.

The wind will take the ashes of Uzushio's people and the sea will take those of Kirigakure's people.

_(And Toru will stand watch.)_

* * *

Toru wonders when his people will come. He's getting incredibly lonely, surviving in Uzushio all on his own.

_(He's not sure how much longer he can take it.)_

* * *

**At long last, Uzushio reaches out for people to make their home within her once again. At long last, those who fought for Uzushio got the funerals they deserved. At long last, Uzushio has life once again.**

* * *

_**In case it wasn't clear, this chapter carries over from the last chapter directly. Like... I broke these chapters in two. There wasn't meant to be a chapter break, so hopefully it rolls over alright.**_

_**In Minakami, I say, there is a wall, I say, with a spiral. I say all of this and I look back in Sea Dreams and I lift these things from a single chapter. There are small things littered throughout this series foretelling Uzushio's rise, Toru's abandoning of Konoha, Itachi's return. This isn't a plot twist nor should it have been. There are clues, it was all planned, and man, am I glad. **_

_**Check out Day 3 of Part 1, where we see Naruto's tiredness and I said Uzushio was hidden here. **_

_**Toru would never collect the jinchuriki. Definitely not. People though? Oh, he'd take every one he could and make sure they are safe and loved. They are jinchuriki but they are people, and he will see them as the latter first and foremost. **_

_**I kinda planned to go more with all the unsealing stuff and records but then it just wouldn't come. Or it did, once. But then I fell asleep and only remembered the bare bones of things and they floated out of my reach before I could snatch them back and put them in an order that made sense. Whatever, this works. I will admit, in regards to the library, I based the size of it on my own state library since they'd both be very impressive, even if I doubt Uzushio's library is so big. **_

_**Toru really needs someone to be around him and remind himself to be kind to himself, to let himself rest, to let himself be. Pity none of his friends are around! I can't quite remember the next few plot points, but I think there is still some time before Toru has friends who come and will boss him about and tell him to look after himself. So there's a high chance that Toru will just work himself into exhaustion. Also, Toru really needs someone to tell him that his people are coming and they will be there soon because he just doubts so much that they'll come back. Because what if they've made homes for themselves? What if they don't care? What if they just don't trust Uzushio to be safety anymore? It's ridiculous and he's vaguely aware of that, but he thinks such thoughts anyway.**_

_**Toru deserves so many hugs. All the hugs. **_

_**I don't think I have too much left to say, so I'll leave you here. Hopefully, I managed to portray Toru's heartbreak and grief well enough. Please be kind and leave a comment. And, most importantly, let yourselves be happy.**_


	15. Part 2: Arrivals

**_UPDATE NOTE: You might've noticed that this chapter is out earlier than usual. The reason behind this is because I'm working to have three updates a month for this series. Due to 's lack of series (i.e. can't connect titles together), I'm not sure whether I'll upload the AUs and various other snippets in the one one book. However, if you're over on archiveofourown there's AUs and various other scenes and whatnot connected to this series. It's both part of The Sea Never Dies series as well as its own series - Uncharted Waters. The other option open to you is going on Tumblr. Most of the things I'll post will be under the tag 'The Sea Never Dies' and my username over there is Silent-Silver-Slip. _**

**_Review responses:_**

**_LadyMidnightBat - These chapters are just together in my head, probably because they were one, initially. And so, I couldn't not update them at the same time. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed them! Hopefully you enjoy this chapter! (Also your review on the Harry Potter story earlier has made my day so, now, you get this out a day early rather than me waiting until tomorrow.)_**

**_Xcutioner - I totally get you; waiting for updates is the worse. The only thing I can promise is that this book will be updated 2-3 times a month at the moment. Of course, that includes other little pieces I release over on Tumblr or AO3 (haven't figured out what I'm planning to do on here yet). I'm overjoyed to hear that this is your favourite. I hope it continues to remain so!_**

**_Weiqing - Thank you so much for your kind words! Uzushio and Toru have been so much fun to write and I've adored having it all work out. And yes! Toru definitely needs more hugs and he will get them in time, I promise. I have so many beautiful scenes that just don't hurt and Toru gets all the love he deserves. In this you do get your return of Uzushio's people, and it is devesating how many people don't answer the call - especially Naruto. _**

**_TigrezzTail - I hope it was a fun mind trip, if nothing else! And I promise that Toru does accept his grief and gets some help. After all, you can only move forward until there's nothing left to do. Things do get better for Toru._**

**_Dragons and Dragons - Firstly, I adore your username. Dragons are the best. And yes! Here's part two and Uzushio. Hope you enjoy it all!_**

* * *

**Day 6**

The night sky is still dark overhead when Uzushio's chakra rumbles, something faded and almost lost to Toru's senses. He feels it though, a tingling that starts from his toes and travels up his spine to his head.

Immediately, he's running through the rubble and ruins of his village, empty of people, _(but not for long)_. The wind seems to surround him, tugging him forward, flicking strands of hair out of his eyes. He arrives at Uzushio's port quickly; and turns his gaze towards the ocean.

Over the past day, he's spent most of his time clearing up the harbor, knowing that it's likely to be used with everyone coming, _(they're coming; they're coming; they're coming)_. The water had been cold and it had been difficult and there had been hidden debris and leftover bombs, but the ocean had lifted the ships with him, the seabed shifting to help him. He is Uzushio's and their people are coming.

There are ships. Out on the water. Toru's grinning—or maybe crying. Something heavy lifts from his shoulders. He's no longer _alone_.

Standing on the dock, he stares out at the ships coming. There's more than one an- and he'd expected that. But to see it is another story entirely. It's hope come real, wrapping itself around him. It's like coming home again.

Maybe he shouldn't be waiting for them to land. Maybe he should be rushing to them and scrambling up the sides of the boat. But this- This feels right. It takes no time, but simultaneously takes forever for the boats to reach the shore.

The water laps gently against the wooden posts, but all Toru can focus on is the ships pulling up, anchoring. Rowing boats are being lowered and people are coming closer—coming towards him.

A gangplank slams down, metres away, and Toru steps forward. Steps forward and doesn't know what to do because they don't know him—not like he is. Not who he is known and not his face. They know his name but they don't know it's his. He's a reborn shinobi who should be dead, but that's almost impossible to prove.

Those worries and fears hover in the back of his mind, but they're difficult to focus on, almost easy to ignore.

_(He breathes and breathes and breathes, because sometimes it's the only thing he feels he can control.)_

He raises his head, looking away from the gangplank and to the person walking down it, _(and everything feels like it's happening too slowly and too quickly; his heart's beating frantically and he can't breathe but he can)_.

Copper eyes stare at him, bracketed by wrinkles and dark skin. The woman's blonde hair is streaked with grey, and there's a weariness there that shouldn't be there, _(they should've grown up safe, away from the hardships of everything—but life's far from perfect and they all know it)._ She's familiar, somehow. Toru's not sure how, but he knows them. He wracks his memory, searching for names long last to the past, _(to another life)_.

He steps forward, steps up, lifts his chin, and says, "Moe Kaito?"

The woman inclines her head. "I am." She pauses, stepping out onto the dock, surveying the broken and ruined village behind him. "Who are you?"

_(This is the start of something. It's the start of everything. This is his village and they will live again. They will.)_

"Toru," he replies simply. It's easier—to just be Toru, to just be. Moe gazes at him and he doesn't know what to say. He's been the Uzukage and the ANBU Commander and he's been dead and he's been reborn.

_(And he's been trying to survive in a city of death alone.)_

Then there's a group of people leaping over the side of the boat and onto the gangplank; kids. They hurtle towards Toru and he grins, joyful. He laughs as they slam into him, rocking back onto his heels, even as he brushes his hands over their heads, tugging them into hugs.

"Ryuu!" Tomoe says, eyes gleaming. And he's never really seen here like this—laughing and kind and happy, wariness and exhaustion and stress torn away like it was never there. "Thank you for this."

"Nothing more than you all deserve," Toru says, an ache in his throat and his eyes itching. He's probably seconds away from crying—but that's okay. It's okay to cry.

Tomoe steps back, her people with her, _(his people)_, and glances around. He wonders what she thinks of it all; what she sees. She doesn't know Uzushio aside from the rubble behind him, doesn't know the safety of the village, doesn't know the kindness of the people.

"What do you need from us?" Tomoe asks, _(and she's so young but so was he and so were all of them; she's a fighter but not a soldier and Toru's grateful for that in a way he doesn't understand)_.

"We're going to need supplies," Toru says, eyes flicking to Moe who appears content to let them talk, before returning to Tomoe. "See what our contacts can get us. It's like setting up a safe house but on a bigger scale."

Raiden glances at Masuyo and nods. "We can do that," he says. "After all, we've got a legal business running in our names and whatnot. Can we use Kakumau?"

"Definitely. Call them here if they want to come as well," Toru says. "Tomoe, my main order for you is to keep all knowledge and evidence of Uzushio quiet—the people moving, the rising of the village, everything. Think you can try to do that for me?"

Tomoe grins, fierce and wild and like the street child she is. "You got it Ryuu," she answers. "There are more of us on board the ships and a lot of us are coming. I'll send word out." She pauses, almost hesitant. "Is this…" She stops again, expression twisting, "We're going to make a home here, yeah? It's not… We're not gonna be stuck on the streets an' scavenging right? We're here for good, yeah?"

"This can be your home," Toru agrees, "and you can live here and have a job and do whatever the hell you want to do—within our laws, of course. Uzushio offers safety and refuge to all who want it. And… And I've got an idea of what your position could be here, but that'll come later."

Tomoe nods. "You got it Ryuu," she says, _(and she's as strong as any ninja Toru knows even though she's not a ninja at all)_. Raising her voice, she adds, "C'mon let's get everything organised and set up. Safe house plans on a bigger scale. Talk to me guys," and leads her gang, _(they are his people)_, to the proper shore where they start talking and discussing.

"So, Toru, huh?" Moe asks, and there's something heartbreaking and uncertain in her eyes.

He dips his head, "The sea never dies," he says and it's not enough. It can never be enough. But they'll make it enough.

Still, Moe smiles back, somehow. "The Kaito Clan is Uzushio's," she says, before adding, "Toru-sama," with a low bow.

_(Moe had been a chūnin when Uzushio had fallen. She remembers their Uzukages, who died for them and saved them, and remembers Toru Mizushima who she hadn't known well, but had still trusted, had still loved. And something, deep in her bones, whispers that this is right, that this is her Uzukage. Maybe it's just being back in Uzushio, maybe it's just her instincts. But still, she believes it. This is Toru, Uzukage—but she might wait, just a bit longer, before she calls him that.)_

"Disembark!" Moe calls up to the ship just as another one pulls up alongside the dock. The second person down the gangplank is even older than Moe, grey hair short decorated with various small plaits. A familiar face, but with more wrinkles than Toru remembered. The Kaito clan member glances at him, head tilted, before turning to Moe.

"You're the first point of contact here," Moe says. "Toru-sama, is there someone we should talk to about setting up and dock organisation?"

A woman hops off the ship, hair raggedly cut short. "Ryuu, right?" She asks, flashing him a grin. "I heard Tomoe call ya that."

Toru smiles and doesn't think he minds the end of his Ryuu alias, his true name known to all who are those part of Kakumau. He couldn't quite bring himself to mind. "Yes," he says. "And you are…?"

"Reina. I've been workin' with boats for years an' years. There are some others around as well, but I figured we can start sortin' out all these boats and all those that need to dock. Since I figure you're gonna be needed elsewhere."

"Good initiative," Toru says, nodding at her. "If you're willing to get that sorted, that'd be marvellous. Questions can be directed to Tomoe and, if necessary, myself. I'll be around to help out when everything else is sorted."

Reina salutes sloppily and turns to Moe. "I'll sort dock organisation out," she says firmly, before letting out a piercing whistle. Immediately, various people are looking over the side of the boat—and other boats as well.

Swallowing, Toru places his trust in their hands and heads towards where another ship is docking, Moe trailing along behind him. She simply smiles at him when he looks at her in question. He can't say he's pleased with the scrutinization, even if he understands it. After all, he doesn't really have any idea of what he's doing—there's no protocol for restabilising a fallen village. If this was a fight, it would be easier, not better perhaps, but easier. Toru knows what to do in a fight.

The first person off the next ship is someone Toru can place. "Yori Takumi, correct?"

The man glances at him, eyes surveying him quickly. "Yes," he says gruffly, older and more scarred then when Toru had last seen him. "You the one who called us all back?"

_(He really did it, didn't he? He called them back and they're coming back. Uzushio will not lie in ruins for much longer. Their people will not be forgotten, their history not ignored, their village will be remembered.)_

"I'm Toru," he says in response, smiling. "This is Moe Kaito."

Yori inclines his head in the semblance of a bow. "You were in Kirigakure too, weren't you? We'd heard rumours, but nothing concrete."

"My clan was," Moe agrees, raising an eyebrow. "I do hope no one else noticed though, we were trying to stay under the radar."

"You were safe. We were listening for rumours regarding Uzushio citizens. That and one of our clan members thought they saw some ospray summons. So we hoped, but we didn't dare reach out. Not 'til now, at the very least."

"Toru-sama!" Reina's voice has Toru whirling, chakra rising to his fingertips, ready to aid. She skids to a stop, looking slightly apologetic, but doesn't apologise. "We need more docks."

Toru looks around, tilting his head in acknowledgement. In preparation for the battle, they had destroyed all docks sans the one remaining, forcing the Kiri ships to disembark in specific locations and planning based on that.

"Sorry," he says, before turning to Moe and Yori who are watching him, _(waiting for him to prove himself or to slip up, he imagines)_. "Can any of your people can create an earth wall?"

"A few," Moe says thoughtfully. "Do you want me to call them over?"

Pausing in thought, Toru considers the harbour. Once upon a time, it had been split into three separate sections—a beach area, various docks for reparation, and a port area for loading and unloading. Most ships, once no longer in used, had simply been left anchored outside of Uzushio's harbour, resting in the outer edges of the channel dividing their island from the others of Uzu no Kuni.

Nothing will remain the same as it was, but it's a good basis for a plan. What this means is that any docks and ports created—whether they're temporary or not—will need to follow such a plan.

Decision made, Toru nods to himself. "How many of them will know Uzushio's previous harbour set up?"

"I could pair them up?" Moe offers, which causes Yori to shake his head.

"We're heading towards low tide," he points out. "The former structure of the previous docks can kind of be seen."

"Good point," Toru replies. He frowns. "Alright, grab… three people from each clan? Have them pair up because some things are easier with two people than one."

"Don't trust us?" Yori asks, as Moe heads over to the Kaito Clan.

Toru thinks over his words, tries to understand the sentiment clinging to his thoughts. "We've been separated for so long," he says softly. "Some of us have been able to stick together, but we've still been alone. This is the first step to change all that, to adjust to working with one another, with new people." He pauses, then says, "Besides, some things are easier to complete with someone else to work off than attempting to do it all alone."

Yori nods and quickly gathers some clan members, whilst Toru returns to shore and takes up position where a dock had once stood.

When the three Kaito and Takumi clan members reach him, he explains his plan; Reina standing patiently at his side. "Uzushio's docks and ports were quite long, but I'm not quite able to reach such a distance easily since my earth ninjutsu is not fantastic. Unless any of you are capable of creating earth walls spanning over a hundred metres, we're going to have to do it in a trickier fashion."

Toru speeds through the jutsu's hand seals and says, "Earth Release: Mud Wall!" The technique sucks his chakra away, but not too much. The challenge is creating the wall, building it from the base to ensure the foundations are strong and making it wide enough.

He lets his grip over the jutsu fade when the wall reaches his desired height and width. "As you can see, the wall isn't too long. The important part here is to ensure that the wall is strong enough to withstand the ocean for long enough. It'll eventually disappear, but we just want to get everyone off the ships first. The aim is to have the wall one metre wide—or wider, if you can manage it. In regards to increasing the length, simply build another wall at the end of the one you've just created."

Glancing at the six people behind him, he tilts his head in question. "Do you guys understand what I mean?"

A Takumi clan member nods. "It'll be tricky, but manageable. Yori-sama said something about working in pairs?"

"Yes," Toru says, stepping back. "Good luck, and keep an eye on your chakra levels and monitor the walls when you're done. If you need a replacement, simply ask. Reina-san, does that help you?"

"Thanks, Toru-sama," Reina says. "We can manage from here."

Toru nods and turns back to Moe and Yori who are still watching him. He breathes in and slowly lets it out. There's a lot of planning to still get done, work to organise, duties to identify. But-

But he's not alone. Not anymore. And that eases something within him, something he hadn't realised was pounding against him like the waves weathering a cliff.

"What's your plan here?" Moe asks, any sign of her own thoughts carefully hidden. A sign of a good ninja and a formidable foe in politics, Toru knows. And none of his people have been ninjas for the last few decades—but the training has stuck, they've passed down what they can, improved on what they had. They are still capable and, most importantly, they're all survivors. They will keep surviving.

"Wait for more people to arrive," Toru says, "and figure out what resources we have. The farmlands are in awful condition, so we're going to need to do some work there to help out. But we're also going to have to rebuild Uzushio. I don't know how everyone's clan compounds are going to work, but they're still there and the wards are going to be locked tight. In all honesty, the compounds are likely going to be everyone's go-to location, especially with Uzushio's current defences as they are."

"And they are?" Yori says, voice pitched to be heard but not to interrupt.

Pausing, Toru considers the way Uzushio almost feels to be connected to him, the way he knows her fallen defences, the way she poured chakra into a seal to call their people back. The village's chakra is small now, soft, hidden away beneath their feet. These people do not know what he has done so far—and he has to remember that. These people do not know him or what he can do or what, exactly, Uzushio is to him.

"Calling our people back required a lot of chakra," he explains. "The whirlpool system wasn't functioning correctly and I took it down so people could get here. Many of the other defences we changed in the leadup to the final battle in the invasion. And the wards that stood after that went down when I came here to have our people return. There are some defences, but not many. And they're not strong either. That said, however, I don't think we need to worry about strengthening our defences immediately. No one's going to look here and the mass movement of our people should be relatively hidden."

Moe nods in understand. "Very well. Your plans, then? There's no housing here that's intact or safe. And we are not builders nor is Uzushio built like many other villages. How do you expect to fix it?"

"There are seals," he says slowly with a frown. "I don't know how they work; I just know what they do. I don't want to do it right now, not until there are more of us. Besides," he adds, catching sight of two people hugging one another tightly, one openly crying, "diving straight into it isn't what we need." Glancing at the two Clan Heads, he continues, "We've lost a lot—friends, families, the community we had here. We're finding those connections now, finding people we thought lost or dead. And… And we're recovering, first. Before anything else happens—we're finding each other again."

_(Yori and Moe exchange looks, but they don't ask why a boy is telling them about how Uzushio used to be. They wonder, but they don't ask.) _

_(And Tour is looking around, seeing people meeting up and crying and hugging, because they didn't know if the other was alive or not and they're so grateful to finally know. It's humbling, to see everyone find each other, to grieve and mourn and to live despite it all. It's uplifting despite the sorrow threading through it.)_

_(He is so, so proud of Uzushio and that they've lived. He will always be proud of his people.)_

"Very well," Moe says in response, "I will go see to my clan then, and the others around. If you need help, I'm sure you can find me."

Yori nods in agreement, "Same goes for me."

"Thank you," Toru says, before the two turn and head to their clans and the various ships starting to dock.

He's turning when he hears his name shouted loudly. Rushing towards him are three children, followed somewhat more sedately by a familiar face—Hoshiko Hagoromo. He smiles at them, crouching down as the children reach him.

"Hey," he says to them, "How're you guys?"

"Great!" A little girl says loudly, grinning wide to show missing teeth. "The ocean's so big and so blue and the ship was so cool!"

Hoshiko stops behind the kids, smiling gently; the lines of her face easing. "Thank you, Toru-sama," she says quietly, although she doesn't say why she's thanking him. "Now, I do believe you three had something you wanted to give him, yes?"

They mill about, briefly uncertain, before one nudges the others and meets Toru's gaze. "The Uchiha Clan isn't Uzushio's but you are," he says clearly. He hesitates, glancing at his friends, who nudge at him and smile. "So… So we made you something."

The third child, who hadn't spoken yet, fishes something out of their pocket and lays it flat on their palm, presenting it to Toru. It's a wooden beat, clumsily carved and spherical in shape—although, one end is slightly squashed. What really grabs Toru's attention is the bead's appearance. It's got minute engravings that he can feel beneath his fingertips, and it's navy blue aside from the single a uchiwa in red and white—the Uchiha Clan mon. It's beautiful for all its imperfections, and it makes something in Toru's chest tremble beneath the onslaught of his emotions.

"It's lovely," he says. He doesn't know what it will do, but that's something to find out in the future.

The kids grin at him. "You have to make sure it's charged with your chakra before using it," one of them says, before glancing up at Hoshiko. "We had help for the seals."

Toru channels a trickle of chakra into the bead, which glows orange-red before fading. "I'm sure it was a very difficult task," he agrees. "Do you want to put it in my hair?"

"Yeah!" The kids say, grinning, and Toru sits down, crossing his legs, and turns his back to them.

* * *

**Day 11**

There are few villages on the main island of Uzu no Kuni. There are quite a few reasons for that—the volcano, the once-natural whirlpools, and the dangers of the sea and earth. Uzushio's weathered numerous natural disasters, time after time, and come up on top. People tend to forget that natural dangers Uzushio faces when they remember the village exists, far too focussed on the fūinjutsu that the village is known for.

When building Uzushio, they had prepared for the possibility of the buildings crumbling beneath the weight of nature, and so they had built the buildings to withstand as much damage as possible and then rebuild themselves again. Every child of Uzushio knows this, because they have lived it or been told the stories.

It all comes down to Uzushio's heart seals. Heart seals being the seal that connects entire seal systems together. Through the heart seal, every other seal in the system can be changed due to the fact they all connected together through the heart seal.

There are four well known heart seals of Uzushio—one for the barriers, one for the whirlpool system, one for the buildings, and one that pulled the island up from the sea.

It is the heart seal linked to the buildings that Toru needs to activate. With it, the foundations of the vast majority of the buildings should reconnect and make their lives easier when rebuilding the village itself.

_(There's a low-level thrum that's been sitting in the back of Toru's head for days; a headache he can't quite shake. He knows where it comes from. It's like the sensations he's receiving from his chakra pathways, just sitting on the wrong side of pain. Chakra exhaustion—or something close to it, at the very least; worsened by not enough rest and constant use of chakra in the following days.)_

The day dawns bright and clear, the chill forcefully sinking into Toru's bones. Still, he can't bring himself to mind, the sheer astonishment at the number of people continuing to reach Uzushio's shores. His happiness tangles hopelessly with his grief; a mess of emotions he has no hope of unravelling until he has time to himself for a few hours.

"What's todays plans, Toru-sama?" Michi Sasaki asks him, stepping up to stand beside him; looking away from the harbour and towards the ruins of their village.

"The buildings," Toru says, certainty ringing in his voice. "It's time we see how bad off everything is."

"The heart seal?"

He nods. "They're well-hidden and can only be accessed by some key members of Uzushio. I'm… not sure who remains of those people," he says, well-worn grief making an appearance in his voice, "but I can access it. I'll need some help with the chakra requirements though. Normally, we don't have to rebuild the foundations of an entire village. And I can show those who come how to access this heart seal."

"How many people do you think you'll need?" Michi asks. "And should I be preparing a medic to deal with chakra exhaustion?"

Toru considers the size of Uzushio and compares it to the little patches they've rebuilt with the seal before. "Seven people who can actively use chakra," he decides, "with a further three on standby. Usual procedure for activating heart seals would apply, I imagine. So yes, preparation for possible chakra exhaustion. It's difficult to know how much chakra the seal will require and whether people will be able to cut themselves off from the seal if necessary."

"Chakra transfusions," Michi says in understanding. "Alright, I'll rustle up a few people. Any specific clans?"

Frowning, Toru tries to remember the current clan numbers. At least one person from most of the clans have come, _(and he doesn't want to think about the clans with no members; doesn't want to think that they're all gone and dead)_, and some of the numbers are higher than others. "Grab some people from the Uzumaki, if they're willing," he decides, knowing that the Uzumaki Clan's chakra levels will be helpful for their task. "Otherwise, it doesn't matter too much—just whoever's still around. It's still early after all."

Soon enough, Toru has a small group of ten others with him. Before he leads the group into Uzushio proper, Michi tells him she'll make sure there are a few more medics on standby for when they get back.

The group's fairly quiet at his back as he leads them around rubble and skirts seals that may or may not be disarmed, _(he should probably get on top of that too)_. They're average jōnin age and the majority had been too young to remember Uzushio in all her glory. It's a strange thought and a sad one, because they deserved to grow up with Uzushio. Still, he thinks they feel the same as him, that they too know the message surging through his blood saying _this is home, this is home, this is home_.

The Chishiki District is simultaneously one of the most hit areas and one of the least hit areas. Kirigakure had attempted to focus their efforts there in the later parts of the invasion, Toru remembers, due to the hospitals and medical supplies stored there. Of course, they'd already appeared to destroy the hospital before Kiri breached their village walls, but it had still been a key location for medical aid.

As a result, the pathways are ruined, evidence of ninjutsu and fūinjutsu fights and the roofs that remain are cracked and full of holes. But, more often than not, the ground floor is standing strong; the seals linking it to the heart seal holding it together.

He comes to a stop in the square before the hospital and crouches down. "The heart seal that'll allow us to rebuild the foundations is hidden beneath this square," he explains. "But, with the right seal, we can send chakra to it from here. You all know that you're here to help me, but you're also here to learn what to do in case we have to do this again. And it's likely we will, although it won't be to such a high level, I'm sure." The group gathers around him and Toru recalls the seal in his mind. It's fairly basic in appearance, but contains numerous sections that are tricky.

"If you don't get a good look at it, feel free to ask me at a later date," he adds, before calling his chakra to him. It leaps to his fingertips with minimal pain, and Toru places his hand on the ground. "Fūin!"

The seal appears glowing blue. "It doesn't matter where you touch the seal, but you'll need to be able to channel chakra into it. Three of you be prepared for a rotation if needed. And if anyone thinks they're heading towards chakra exhaustion, swap with someone."

Even as he speaks, the other ten ninjas with him are organising themselves. One of them is quick to sit out—Shōta Sasaki—who Toru vaguely remembers as having met before both in this life and his last; a student of Michi and a good medic-nin if he's remembering Michi's words correctly. The other two who sit out are an Asano Clan Member and a Takahashi Clan Member.

The pull on his chakra system lessens greatly as the others join in. The addition of an Uzumaki's chakra is extremely helpful, and Toru allows his attention to wander away from the seal—trusting it to do its job—and to the changing buildings around him.

It's not magic. It's just chakra and seals. There are no quickly reforming buildings rising into the sky, gathering rubble and forcing it to be what it should be. Instead, it's a steady slow change, measured in chakra freely given and the feeling of the land becoming _right_ beneath his feet. Uzushio rejoicing with the limited chakra that she has, beating deep below the ground, somehow cheerful.

Toru steps back when he starts feeling his chakra burning. He knows the dangers of giving too much chakra. Immediately, one of the members on standby steps forward—the Asano Clan member.

Shōta Sasaki pulls his attention away from the changing village and steps up to Toru's side, running a diagnostic jutsu with narrowed eyes. Toru notices the growing frown, and elects to ignore it in favour of looking around.

Despite having seen the seal work before, it's still impressive to watch. His meagre chakra sense can just follow the chakra that's given off in bursts. There are sounds of rumbling and groaning buildings as they stabilise themselves. The best one to watch is the hospital, which has seals woven through the base and into some of the upper flaws due to its importance. And so the building settles itself and reforms walls and internal structures. There are sections that'll have to be rebuilt by hand, but this makes things easier.

"What have you been doing?" Shōta says, tone shocked. "Why are you still using chakra? Your chakra pathways are leaning towards inflamed. Have you been recovering from chakra exhaustion for the past few days? What did you do to yourself?"

Toru jerks his attention away from the village around him. "I didn't really have a choice," he says, causing Shōta's frown to become unhappy. "I had to call everyone back, which almost led to chakra exhaustion. And I have to help."

Shōta doesn't respond immediately, all too aware that Toru's help has been necessary and he can't avoid it. "Well, try to rest and recuperate," he says, "which I'm sure you know. Avoid chakra use if you can and get more people to help you if something does need chakra. I'm thinking a chakra transfusion might help ease the strain on your coils, but I don't want to inflame your chakra pathways by not having a gradual increase."

He glances at the others still channelling chakra into the seal, but upon recognising they don't need his help, returns his attention to Toru. "I want you to get checked over by a medic-nin twice a day—morning and evening. If not me, then someone who's as good as me or better. If this gets better, then everything's fine, but if it gets worse, I want to know so we can figure something out. Got it?"

Toru nods. "I'll come to you," he agrees, before smiling. "Hey guys," he says raising his voice, "you can stop now."

Looking around, it's obvious that the village has weathered quite a bit of destruction, but it's not as bad as it was. Buildings are standing more often than not, even if they're lacking windows and roofs and the internal design is probably gone.

It's a start.

* * *

**At long last, Uzushio's people are returning and their village is rising from the ashes. Toru doesn't think he's ever been happier in his entire life.**

* * *

**_Initially, I was struggling with this chapter until I really wasn't. I've yet to touch the next chapter but I think I will soon. Probably when I tackle some of my uni assignments that are planning to kill me. However, that's not this chapter's issue so - without further ado - let's move on! _**

**_Me, upon rereading the first two lines: Wow, that's a neat way to start. Totally forgot I pulled that off! I was more thinking about the second-half of the chapter where rebuilding begins. _**

**_Can we talk about how good it is that Tomoe's gang finally gets to find a place of safety and home? I'm just sobbing. They deserve good things. All the good things. _**

**_On another note, you're all gonna be bombarded with OCs in every direction and I really cannot help that. After all, I'm rebuilding a village that contains very few canon characters. There will be some though! They'll start showing up in future chapters, I'm sure, but they come in later. For now, you're stuck with me creating so many characters. The good news is that you won't actually need to remember tooooo many of the characters. A lot of them will just fade into the background (we might see some of the Clan Heads in council meetings but that's the future and they'll be reintroduced then as well). _**

**_Poor Toru hasn't given any thought about being Uzukage or not. I mean, all of us know what's going to happen because it's /Toru/. But Toru isn't considering it at all. He's just... happy to have his people home. It doesn't really matter too much who leads them, because they'll be Uzushio's and that's all that matters._**

**_The Uchiha Clan having a bead made is just so meaningful and Toru deserves all the love he's getting here from these kids who aren't thinking about the wider picture or anything, just grateful for what is. _**

**_In other news, I've made the basics of a village plan for Uzushio. It's rough and separated into sections and whatnot at the moment, but it's done. It'll definitely be used when it comes to figuring out the placement of everything. It's very challenging trying to not contradict yourself about locations when you're basing it off nothing. I may or may not put that up on Tumblr, haven't quite decided yet. _**

**_Shout out to Shōta who notices that Toru is definitely not looking after himself as much as he could be, but also finds himself thinking that he can't do anything to help because Toru's needed so much. I do promise that Toru will eventually have people who'll force him to delegate and look after himself and whatnot (... there's a plot point that's literally just cuddle piles I believe). _**

**_Anyway, that's all I've got to say for this chapter. I hope you're all doing well and looking after yourselves. If you ever need to chat - you know where to find me. _**


	16. Part 2: Restructuring

_**Review responses:**_

_**Wingi - Toru totally does need to take care of himself better and all the cuddle piles. Things get better! In time. We're getting closer though, I believe chapter 17 has good things? Could be wrong though. And you're absolutely right about kids! I'm glad to haer you enjoyed the last chapter as well, hopefully you enjoy this one too!**_

* * *

**Day 17**

The people of Uzushio, both old and their descendants, are not builders. This is to be expected and Toru had figured out ways around it. Through Tomoe and Kakumau, Toru manages to find builders and the necessary resources. What does surprise him is how willing everyone is to pick up a tool and help, even if they don't know what to do. Perhaps he should've expected it. After all, everyone wants Uzushio to be returned to its former glory. What surprises him most of all, however, is the number of people who've picked up building knowledge over the past years in the hope that they would see Uzushio rebuilt by their own hands.

As such, Toru leaves the process of rebuilding Uzushio in the capable of hands of a mixed group of civilians, ninjas, and Kakumau members. At first, they'd been worried by the funds required, until Toru had presented some of the funds he'd put aside specifically for the purpose of rebuilding and Tomoe, without any prompting, had added her gang's own funds—without question, without order, _(and he doesn't know whether to be proud of her or fearful over her loyalty to him)_.

The result is that Toru's been finding other tasks to juggle instead—and there's a lot to do, so he's always busy. However, there's been one project that's taken priority.

It's a project that resembles nothing done in recent history. In fact, as far as he knows, something similar had only happened once before—when the first of Uzushio's people had pulled their glorious islands out of the sea.

"Toru-sama," Masao Sasaki greets as he ducks into the marquee erected for them. Already, the others are gathered around the table, heads bowed together as they discussed ideas and theories, jockeying back and forth. The others fall silent at Masao's greeting, turning to him with their own greetings.

Toru dips in his head. "How's it all going?"

Mitsuko Abe sighs heavily and shakes her head. "Not well," she admits. "What we want to do—it's such a massive task. None of us are really sure where to start."

A half-hearted smile, and Toru says, "At the beginning."

_(The words are teasing, an echo from a past life, from a past teaching. He is the only one who hears the whispers of a ghost, the hand resting briefly on his shoulder.)_

The others roll their eyes at him, knowing the words to be well-worn advice from Uzushio seal masters. Still, Mitsuko rallies herself first and begins. "We're creating a seal that aims to shift Uzu no Kuni away from the waters of Mizu no Kuni and closer to Hi no Kuni's shores."

"What we know so far is that we can use the natural paths of chakra deep underground—ley lines—to power the seal. And potentially guide it? Currently, our island is settled just on the edge of a crossover point between two ley lines, we're fairly certain. One of the major worries we currently have is whether moving our country will result in the islands slipping beneath the waves once more and breaking current links to the ley lines," Kazue Takahashi says, rubbing the back of her neck.

"But," Masao says, smoothly interjecting, "we're starting to believe that moving Uzu no Kuni won't result in that. The seals tap into the ley lines but they aren't directed to a location but towards a chakra pool. It's… like a guide, showing you a way, rather than a guard forcing you down a single path."

"That doesn't negate the fact we don't know where to start," Gorō Uzumaki argues back, the final member of their small group of seal masters attempting this task. He turns his heavy gaze to Toru, and it holds a grief all too familiar. "Do you truly believe we can do this?"

Toru pauses, considers his words, considers his knowledge. Willpower is not everything. It will not make this work. "Yes," he says, certainty thick on his tongue. "Uzushio was brought up from the ocean floor with seals and stone had risen at our command. The very sea had abided our orders. So yes. We can do this. We will move Uzu no Kuni and our whirlpools will come with us and the very world will not notice, but we will be _stronger_."

_(He feels like he is saying this with teeth bared, red blood coating them. He feels like there is a war shoving at his back, and maybe there is.)_

Gorō studies him and then nods sharply. "Alright," he says. Then, he redirects his gaze to the sheets of paper they have scattered on the table.

It's not going to be easy. But nothing's ever easy. They'll figure it out though.

_(Uzushio depends on them, and they all know—far too well—what might happen if they don't succeed.)_

* * *

**Day 18**

Toru wakes up rapid-fast, heart pounding and the feeling that something's out of reach. For a minute, he remains lying down, staring up at the tent above his head, _(most of them are still living out of tents as the village is rebuilt, but soon they will all move he knows)_. One minute stretches into two, which then stretches into ten.

He forces himself up. Gets changed. Leaves the tent.

Most days follow the same schedule and any deviation from that fact will prove that something is _wrong_. He can't have that. It's just- It's going to be one of those days, Toru knows, even if he can't put his finger on why.

Everyone has bad days he knows. He has bad days. He's sure other people have worse days.

Some days aren't even that bad—like the days when he wakes up with the feeling of unease echoing his footsteps, paranoia lurking like a well-known friend in the corners of his mind. And then there are the days where he wakes with his body trembling until he forces it to stop. On those days, his scars ache something fierce and memories of torture are at the forefront of his mind.

The days that are the worst, however, are those that when he wakes up, it's with smoke clogging his throat, ash on his tongue, the smell of blood thick and heavy. Days when he isn't sure if his body's wrong or his skin's wrong or his scar's wrong or he's just _wrong_. Those days are the ones where everything takes too much effort and he doesn't want to get up.

_(He always gets up.)_

The communal breakfast is already going strong and Toru slowly walks there, _(he feels like he's dragging something heavy behind him that chakra won't help with)_. Thankfully, no one seems like they want to converse with him first in the morning. He's stupidly grateful for that.

His luck, however, changes as he arrives at the end of the line for the communal breakfast. The person in front of him—a ninja, he thinks, not from one of their clans—starts talking to him. The words seem to flow around him, buzzing incessantly in his ear, before disappearing. Still, he does his best to nod in all the right places, even as his skin crawls with the knowledge that he's out in the open. In the back of his head, irritating starts growing, anger appearing as a banked fire in his sternum.

_(He doesn't know why he's suddenly angry or irritated. There's no reason for it, and it makes him feel- feel some kind of way. He's not sure.)_

And then someone else is there, interjecting into the conversation. "Shōta-san," Toru greets, a beat late, but Shōta doesn't seem to mind, handing over a bowl of tamago kake gohan.

"Do you mind if I steal Toru-sama from you?" Shōta asks the other ninja. "I need to quickly go over him with something."

Most people have noticed that Shōta works closely with Toru frequently. The conclusion most people have drawn from this is that Shōta will have an important role in the hospital. They're not wrong, exactly, but there's a few other reasons why Shōta sticks to Toru. The first is to ensure he doesn't overuse his chakra, _(although, it's been a week so Toru's safe from those check-ups for now)_, and the second is because Toru—despite being able to greet almost everyone by name—doesn't have many friends to watch out for him. No family either.

"Go ahead," the other ninja says, turning back to the line.

Toru nods in thanks and turns on his foot. Shōta almost in line with him, yet less than half a step behind him, enabling Toru to take the lead. And Shōta watches as Toru subtly relaxes, shoulders dropping a tiny bit. He doubts many others would notice it. But he's paid too much attention to Toru recently to not notice it.

So he sees it. The way Toru's on edge. The way he almost angles his body away from people. The way he tenses like he's expecting a hit at any time. It's far from good but there's nothing Shōta can really do. Toru won't let him in and he can't know what Toru's going through—he's not sure if he's even put it together properly.

He does the only thing he can do. He stays with Toru throughout the day. He doesn't know if it helps, but he thinks it does. He doesn't ask why. That probably helps the most.

_(It's Naruto's birthday, Toru realises as day turns to night. And Toru is not there. He has no one but himself to blame for this. But he's sure that Naruto will be fine. He has to be.)_

* * *

**Day 19**

A hissed, "Toru", has him awake in seconds with a kunai in one hand and chakra crackling at the fingertips of his other hand. The world around him is night-silent, with the waves crashing down on the shore easily heard.

He exits his tent to see various others awake and about—mainly those who will have an important role in Uzushio. They all look like how he feels, an awareness that comes from danger and life as a ninja.

The night chill sinks into his bones and he calls on his fire chakra to combat it, even as he turns to the person who woke him up. "What is it?"

"The volcano is smoking," the night-watch ninja tells him. Toru swallows and turns to the volcano in question. Against the darkness of the night sky, it's difficult to see the dark grey smoke. It's there though.

Toru does not feel equipped to deal with this. He doesn't know much about volcanoes either, nor does he know anyone who might.

He joins the gathering of various Clan Heads along with some of their seconds. Once everyone's there, he quiets them with a hand gesture. "Does anyone know why the volcano's woken up now?"

_(Uzu no Kuni was born of volcanoes before it was brought up above the ocean's surface. Two of the volcanoes have been extinct now, whilst the other had been forced to sleep with seals.)_

Sachie Akimizu steps forward and offers a potential explanation. "It's likely that when Uzushio's barriers went down, the seals keeping the volcano asleep stopped working properly. It's highly likely that they had degraded over the past decades as well without regular upkeep."

Nodding, Toru asks, "What kind of eruption are we expecting?"

"A big one," Asami Manami says. "From what I learnt, the volcano's technically fifty years overdue an eruption. That kind of ash and lava is going to cause immense problems. I've never heard of anything like this happening before."

"Nothing like this has ever been recorded," Jūrō Asano concurs. "But the ash alone could potentially wreak havoc on our ecosystem not to mention what might happen if the smoke blocks the sunlight. And if there's an abundance of poisonous gas, we could be looking at getting acid rain."

None of them curse aloud, but Toru can read the desire on everyone's faces. "That's not just going to impact Uzu no Kuni," he adds. "This would be a global problem, wouldn't it?"

"Probably," the Takumi Clan Head agrees with a shrug. "We can't know anything for certain since we don't have anything to really judge this on. We're just assuming it's going to be worse than any other eruption and resemble our worst-case scenarios from the past."

"I don't suppose anyone has any ideas on what to do?" Toru asks, the bare basics of a plan starting to form in his head. After a few minutes of silence, he continues to speak, "We need a few people to check if we've got anything in the library about volcanoes in general or the seals that were used for it. Hagoromo-san, can you send a two of your ninjas with two others to the outpost there? If they could check up on the seals there and report back, that would be helpful."

They can't fight a volcano, no matter how much Toru would appreciate being able to do so. "We can perhaps create channels for the lava in case the volcano does explode. The good news for now is that we have time. This volcano isn't going to erupt suddenly without more warning."

He breathes in, breathes out.

_(He does not shake. He does not tremble. He does not let him think that it seems like nature itself is out to get them. They will keep surviving.)_

His people nod in agreement and they get to work.

* * *

**Day 20**

Fū cannot fly forever, no matter how much she might want to. Chōmei is the one who warns her that she will have to land eventually. Her landing isn't grateful, can't be when she's never done it before. She stumbles to her feet, legs feeling weak after not using them for so long. Still, she gets her feet beneath her and orientates herself eastward.

_(Something pulls her forward, urges her to move and move and keep moving. She doesn't know where the urge came from or where it's leading her. But Chōmei doesn't seem to think the feeling is dangerous. It feels like safety—or maybe hope.)_

Chōmei tugs on her mind, so Fū abandons her run, instead dropping down into a meditative pose. After all, Chōmei only does that when they want to talk to her face-to-face and it's safe to do so.

She closes her eyes. Opens them.

As always, she's sitting at the very top of a massive tree, large leaves surrounding her. Chōmei is watching her, wings folded. They seem unnaturally still, but when they see that Fū is paying attention, they immediately leap into the air, wings becoming blurs.

"Fū!" Chōmei greets, "Thank you for coming! I can't detect anyone dangerous around us, but I do think some of my siblings' jinchūriki's are nearby."

"Do you think they heard the call too?" Fū asks, _(because no one else seemed to; none of the people she had been around dropped their tasks and turned southeast)_.

_(Come home, someone had said, and it had been powerful and soft and gentle and Fū knows that there is safety to be found somewhere. Some hidden refuge that will accept her as she is. She doesn't know how she knows—she just does.)_

Chōmei tilts their head and lands, the tree swaying gently with their weight. They look over Fū's head, _(in their minds, there is nothing but the forest; still, Fū somehow thinks that Chōmei is looking at the place that calls to both of them)_. "I think they would have," they agree, "but I don't know if the other jinchūriki will listen to my siblings."

"The call came to both of us though," Fū points out. "And maybe that was because of you, but I heard it as well. So… So maybe they're coming too, even if they're rude and don't listen to their bijū." She pauses, considers how to change the topic to something nicer. "Which siblings can you sense?"

Chōmei stretches out their wings and is silent for a moment. "Son Gokū of four tails and Kokuō of five tails… I do think they are together."

"Shall we go find them then?" Fū asks, eyes bright, and before she meets Chōmei's gaze, she already knows her answer. Grinning, she throws herself off the tree, closing her eyes and tumbling down, delighting in the free-fall.

She opens her eyes to find herself back in the physical world. In the back of her mind, Chōmei shifts, chakra rising and before settling once again—but now Fū can feel the chakra of two more bijū nearby.

This time, running is easier, with her feet beating a steady rhythm. She had landed in a good spot—it only takes a short travel period before she's within range of the other two jinchūriki, and she can tell because they seem to clock her pathway and start moving away. She reorientates herself twice more before they start to head towards her.

They meet in a clearing that's more brambles and bush than actual ground. Seeing the pair of jinchūriki makes Fū want to backtrack, _(but there's something still pulling her elsewhere and these are the people who hold Chōmei's siblings)_.

One of the pair is overly tall, looming with bold red armour, and a hat that shadows his face and leaves most of his features hidden. The other, in comparison, seems almost hilariously short with a magenta kimono and a red beard. But Fū knows both are equally dangerous and even with Chōmei as backup, she'd be hard pressed to win a fight against either of them, _(but she probably wouldn't lose—she would survive, and that's more than enough)_.

"Hi," Fū says, suddenly unsure what to say. "I'm Fū and my bijū is Chōmei! Are you on your way eastward as well?"

The taller one tilts his head, looking down at her. "I am Han," he says, voice much softer and gentler than Fū had expected. "I work alongside Kokuō." He pauses, then adds, "Kokuō says it is good to see that Chōmei has a good partner." He glances at his companion, who scowls and crosses his arms.

"The name's Rōshi," he says grumpily. "I hold the Yonbi."

Fū frowns at that. "You should call them by their name, you know," she says. "They're just as enslaved as we are, but more so even."

"Why should I?" Rōshi asks back, scowl growing. "The Yonbi has never helped me nor called me by my name."

"And they've lived so long with only cruelty!" Fū tosses back, stomping her foot, _(because this matters; this is Chōmei's sibling, and they deserve better)_. "What would you do if you know only cruelty? You'd lash out because that's the only way to protect yourself."

Rōshi's scowl seems to lessen, becomes a thoughtful frown, _(and Fū hopes that it's enough)_. "You're young to be outside your village without a hitai-ate," he says gruffly instead.

Fū beams. "Chōmei helped me escape!" She says. "They taught me to fly so that we could escape and be _free_. Apparently, there's somewhere safe that could be a home elsewhere and we're following that call now."

"We heard it too," Han admits. "I met up with Rōshi on my way there. We were from Iwa, originally. But…"

"But what use does the village have for jinchūriki other than to be a weapon?" Rōshi says, anger and hate clear in his tone, _(and, for a brief moment, he considers the fact that the Yonbi too has only been seen as a weapon)_.

"Exactly," Han says, frowning. "I do not mind wandering alone, but if there is the potential that there is something better out there, I wouldn't mind discovering. And Kokuō is interested it in too and xe finds little things interesting after so many lifetimes lived."

Fū kind of wants to talk to Kokuō now—xe sounds like xem has a lot of good stories, _(Chōmei has shared many but Fū doesn't think she could ever tire of hearing stories)_. Shuffling on the spot, Fū meets Han's eyes because it seems easier somehow, "Do you want to go together?"

_(Her voice wavers, a sign of her fear, a sign of weakness—but Fū is allowed to have weaknesses, as long as she knows them. Chōmei has taught her that much. Her village tried to beat it out of her.) _

Han glances sideways at Rōshi, who shrugs, but he seems to get something out of the gesture, because he dips his head in a nod. "That sounds like a fantastic idea, Fū-san," he agrees.

Fū giggles, something high and pitched. "Just call me Fū," she says. "It'll be a long journey if you insist on formality the whole time."

"Fū, then," Han acquiesces with a tilt of his head. "Let's head east."

_(This is the start of something, but they cannot know what yet. They do know, however, that something has shifted. That something has changed. Because for the first time, three jinchūriki have met and not fought with one another.)_

* * *

**Day 21**

Toru wakes up without panic racing its way through his veins for the first time in a few days. The knowledge that the volcano problem has largely been figured out is soothing. Once they'd learnt that built-up pressure pushes on weak spots in the earth crush, ultimately causing the eruption, the question became how to get rid of the pressure. A careful application of chakra and jutsu was the answer it turned out. Most of the gas could be burnt and, if let off in small enough bursts, wouldn't cause any issues.

A team had been sent off to work on the volcano, frequently sending back reports, whilst a secondary team worked on fixing the seal degradation. The report on the seal had been better than expected. It had degraded too much and the main reason for the volcano waking up was due to the seal shutting down.

_(It's almost easy to help organise teams to go out and help, not just take care of the issue himself. Toru knows his strengths and his weaknesses, but he also knows that when it comes to Uzushio, he wants to be on the frontlines. Yet, in the village with the rest of his people he remains, figuring out forces, delegating various tasks, restructuring an entire society.)_

"The whirlpool system surveillance has been completed," Kazue reports to Toru as they eat breakfast. "You were correct in assuming seal degradation was the reason why they weren't following a pattern anymore. They've been fixed up and can be activated whenever. The seal is linked to Uzu no Kuni and not the ley lines, so the whirlpools will move with us and we can restructure their organisation however we want."

Toru nods in understand. "I'm thinking we can probably activate them in two weeks. But I'll call for other options as well. Most of the people who were called to come are here, however. Or will be soon."

_(It almost makes him cry at the number of people who have returned. The country around him is beginning to flourish and civilians are walking amongst them and helping out. The farmlands are being cleaned up and, ever so slowly, their country is starting to get to her feet.)_

Pausing, Toru considers the jobs that Kazue has been running. Along with helping to create the seal to make Uzu no Kuni move, Kazue's been checking over various other seals with a few others from various families. It's not a job that had existed, technically, in Uzushio of the past, but perhaps it had been needed. "What are your thoughts on having a seal surveillance department?" He asks.

"Based on what we've seen recently, it's definitely needed. But the seals we're looking at have also been left on their own for a few years. They won't need massive changes or upgrades like we're doing currently," Kazue answers after a few moments to gather her thoughts together. "But… perhaps upgrade was the wrong word with what we're doing now. Currently, we're fixing seal degradation. Perhaps the department could also deal with the improvements for our current seals? Potentially falling under the research and development sector?"

"Good thinking," Toru says. "Start seeing if you can find a few other people who'd want to join such a department. It'll most likely be under your purview—for now, at least. Once you've done that, select some of them to go check over seals in the outposts and potentially our sensory barriers. With the latter, make sure a squad is brought along in case something goes wrong. It'd probably be a good idea to write out what the department aims to do and whatnot. We can improve it and finalise it later when things are coming together a bit more."

Kazue stutters for a moment before bowing deeply to Toru. "As you say," she says at last, heart fluttering in her chest, before spinning around and getting to work.

With thoughts of departments and divisions in his mind, Toru goes hunting for some other key members leading the rebuilding and restructuring process. Already, he can start identifying people who will be in key roles for Uzushio. He's not certain what all those roles will be, but he knows that it'll happen regardless.

Shōta spots him and waves. Toru waves back and waits patiently as the shinobi finishes a quick conversation with Kaito clan member in front of the medic supplies that have been given to Uzushio as a whole.

"Toru-sama," Shōta says in greeting, eyes quickly scanning the other for injuries. "What can I do for you?"

"Has there been anything done about plans for the structure of the hospital?" He asks.

"Some," Shōta says slowly. "Is this about how it's going to be organised?"

"Yes. We need to probably start figuring out the organisation and who will be leading each section and whatnot." He glances sideways at Shōta, a smile picking at his lips. "I'm sure you'll be one of them."

Uncomfortable, Shōta shifts his weight from one leg to the other, even as he grimaces. "I don't really want to be stuck in the hospital for the rest of my ninja career," he says, before continuing, "but I've been speaking with some of the other medic-nins from various clans, and a few other ones as well."

His hands settle behind his back as he starts standing in a parade rest position; Toru doubts the other has even noticed how he's started a report. "Currently, I'd recommend Megumi Takumi for overall manager of the ninja hospital. I've spoken with her at length and she has various plans that can easily be implemented into the hospital for both ninja and civilian areas. She has also been the one to start a list of all medic-nin and checked who's willing to complete more training. Alongside her, Rikku Hamasaki has been working tirelessly to identify civilians willing to work in the hospital. Together, they've managed to get most of our medic supplies organised and locate medical texts from the library."

Toru sorts through Shōta's words. "See if you can get them to talk to me at some point today," he decides. "Whether it's together or alone, it doesn't matter. Whatever works best with their schedule." Shōta nods and turns to leave. "Wait a moment please, Shōta-san, I hadn't quite finished yet." He turns back around to face Toru. "Have you considered looking into a ninja response unit? Something mobile that can act as a go-team when medics are needed for a priority response or something."

Tilting his head, Shōta considers the idea. "It's… not an awful idea," he says. "But I'd want to think about it more. I don't believe it was anything that Uzushio had previously?"

Toru swallows down the hate rising in his throat, tries to release the grief curling around his bones. "No," he says simply, and Shōta nods one last time and then leaves.

_(It's not fair that Shōta doesn't remember Uzushio in all her glory, that he only had Uzushio briefly as a genin before the village was stolen from him. It's not fair and the world isn't fair and Toru is going to do everything he can to make it better. Even if it's just a small bit of the world.)_

There's not much that Toru has to do, somehow. He's fairly certain that there's a roster for jobs to be done and what things people can help out with. He's also fairly certain that someone is hiding this roster from him on purpose. On one hand, Toru vaguely approves of people taking the initiative to figure out how to get everyone working together cohesively. On the other hand, he would really like to be helping out more than he already is.

Still, as he walks through the completely rebuilt Dokkurando—the docklands district—he can't bring himself to mind too much. Not when it leaves him free to help others deal with the issues arising from having no formal leadership or leadership positions. Michi has been a blessing to help ensure that people always have someone to turn to, and Toru has no idea how to thank her. He thinks she knows though.

It's as he's walking through Chishiki District—where many of the schools are built, along with the main hospitals—that he gets called over by Fuyuko Uzumaki. The woman is much more at ease in Uzushio than compared to when he'd seen her in Konoha. He smiles in greeting.

"Toru-sama, how are you?"

"I'm good," he replies, glancing at the Ninja Academy behind her which is fully built and simply waiting refurbishment. "Yourself?"

"I've been much worse," Fuyuko says, the joke almost sitting well on her tongue. She gestures to the Ninja Academy behind her before the joke can fall flat. "The Ninja Academy needs to open soon. We can't keep teaching outside as we are currently with all the work going on. The kids are getting distracted far too quickly."

"Do you have teachers in mind?" Toru asks. He hasn't thought much about the Ninja Academy, far too many things on his mind, but he doesn't need to have a direct hand in its restructuring. Fuyuko's been a teacher for years, even if it was in Konoha, and she knows his thoughts on the Academy system and what should be taught.

"I've got a list," Fuyuko answers. "Currently, we're planning to engage civilians alongside ninjas-in-training until the civilian schools can reopen. However, we're fairly certain we'll be able to split the groups up in class so that they're taught the necessities for their futures."

"Sounds like a solid plan," Toru says, thinking. "Run over the list of teachers with someone else as well. Work with the teachers to figure out class plans and settle the kids into different classes. Do you need any extra help?"

Fuyuko shakes her head and brushes grey hair behind her ear. "No. I just thought I'd check with you."

"Then you're good to go," Toru says. "Have you heard anything about organising ninja ranks at all? I've been primarily dealing with the volcano mess these last few days."

"Can't say I have," Fuyuko replies. "But… try Kosuke Mizushima? He was working with some of the other Vice Clan Heads to figure out ranks by clan requirements last I heard. He might have some thoughts for you on the plans. Otherwise Akira Chiba might be the person to talk to. They're organising those of us who didn't come with anyone from a clan and don't meet clan requirements as a result."

"Thanks," Toru says, before stepping back and preparing to go hunt for those Fuyuko had mentioned.

He doesn't get that far, however, before Michi finds him with a few other people following her. "Toru-sama," she calls out. "I've got some people who want to talk to you."

Toru smiles at them. "Certainly. What can I help with?"

"This is Tazu Kuroda," Michi introduces, "who wants to discuss our current barriers and security and patrol groups. And this is Azami Kurosawa who's started identifying some immediate problems we need to deal with."

"Kuroda-san, you've been currently working with a roster for night-watches and patrols both in Uzushio and further out by our borders, correct?" Tazu nods. "Good job on all that so far. With any luck, once we have a coherent ninja system running up, it'll be easier to have a proper roster going. In regards to barriers and security, speak to Kazue Takahashi. She's been working with the seals and checking for seal degradation."

"Will do," Tazu says, bowing, and then leaving.

Before Azami can start talking, Toru turns to Michi with an apologetic expression. "Do you think you could find Akira Chiba and Kosuke Mizushima, and tell them I want to talk to them about something?"

"I'll send a messenger," Michi says, before heading off.

"Sorry about that, Kurosawa-san. How can I help you?"

"All good," Azami replies, waving it off, "I'm sure you're very busy. I was wondering if you'd put many thoughts into the civilian-run side of the law, especially in regards to the police force. It isn't very important just yet, but we need to have a strong foundation and this can't be something that's half-done."

"You're absolutely right," Toru says, drawing on memories of plans and procedures and programs and the workload that had gone into making something from the ghosts of a corrupted taskforce. "It can't be something run by a singular clan or under ninjas either," he adds. "Tell me what you've currently got and we can plan from there."

His discussion with Azami is followed by a joint discussion with Megumi Takumi and Rikku Hamasaki about the hospital programs and various divisions. Together, the pair had come up with training programs for both civilians and ninjas, and had been working on figuring out suppliers and imports currently needed to get the hospital up and running completely.

"Once we have all the necessary equipment, we'll be ready to go," Megumi concludes. "We're expecting the last of that to come in a month or so, since we've got express orders going on and we had enough favours to call in, making things go much faster than they would have ordinarily."

"I'm glad to hear that," Toru answers. "I think that's everything covered in regards to the hospital. Is there anything else you wanted to stress?"

Rikku and Megumi exchange a look. "If we want to get a message out to everyone, how should we go about it?"

Pausing in thought, Toru considers how he's been communicating with everyone currently. They haven't had any official announcements, so most information has travelled through word of mouth. It's easy to get in contact with those who are playing an important role right now, since they've remained camping near the seashore, whilst most of the clans have returned to their opened compounds and the first of the residential area is almost completely built and refurnished.

"Talk to the Clan Heads to get communication going through their clans," he says slowly. "Otherwise, word of mouth is the best way to go about it. Perhaps put up a sign? We haven't had any official announcements, but information moves quickly."

"That's what we'll do then," Megumi says decisively. "The hospital might not be prepared for medical emergencies, but we can definitely be running therapy sessions for all those who want them."

Toru swallows, _(against the smoke that never leaves his lungs)_. "I think that's a good idea," he says softly. Rikku and Megumi smile at him and then head off.

Left alone, Toru orientates himself towards one of the nearby meal spaces. Lunch had probably past him by, but he could still have a late meal. There's always food around for those helping with the repairs.

He's not the only one either. There are a few civilians running things and a few others scattered around eating or talking. Familiar faces for the most part, but no one Toru knows well.

Just after he takes a ration bar and a bowl of fruit, he's accosted by two people. "Sorry, Toru-sama, we heard you wanted to talk to us?" The first person says. Toru knows them, vaguely, _(he remembers them young and small and a child of his clan)_.

"I did," he agrees. "Do you mind if I eat whilst we talk? I've been a bit busy today and forgot to have lunch earlier."

"That's perfectly fine," Kosuke Mizushima agrees, before nodding towards a table. "How about we sit over there and discuss what you wanted to talk to us about?"

Toru nods and lets Kosuke lead the group over to the table, chewing quickly on his ration bar. "Someone mentioned you guys had looked into the ninja ranks currently?"

The two ninjas in front of him don't soften or relax or anything, but somehow they seem to become more at ease, _(he wonders why they seemed tense in the first place)_. "We have been, Toru-sama," Akira Chiba says. "I hope we have not overstepped our positions."

"Far from it, I think," Toru answers easily, a smile pulling at his lips. "You saw a problem and took the initiative to find a solution. It's what we need in our people currently. What have you managed so far?"

"Kosuke-san has managed to identify most, if not all, clan ninjas and organised them into ranks based on clan requirements alongside a set of general requirements we've come up with together. Meanwhile, I've managed to speak to all those who don't have clans to rely on—or didn't have clans to rely on until recently. We've run tests for most people to showcase their skills and have files with recommendations for ranks."

And that's good. Helpful. They're going to have to complete missions sometime soon, and having ranks already in place will only decrease the problems that will arise from running those first few missions. If people disagree with their rank, they can prove themselves over time that they deserve to be of a higher rank.

"The only thing," Kosuke says, after a moment to let Akira's words sink in, "that we haven't been able to form is the ANBU. We figured that should be left for someone else due to the secrecy of such a thing. We have, however, marked files for potential ANBU candidates."

_(Toru knows that the ANBU will be something he will have to form himself. He will need a second-in-command, but he needs to find them first, and he hasn't yet. It's not something he can easily see in the everyday life of rebuilding Uzushio. It's not vital that they have ANBU protecting their backs just yet anyway. It would be comforting, but they're strong even without those with masks watching them.)_

"I'll look over them," Toru promises. "Now, let's go through the general requirements you've come up with."

* * *

**They build and they build and they build; build buildings, build houses, build families, build friends, build society, build _Uzushio_. They get up. They push on. And Uzushio stands with them. No one will be taking them down ever again. Nothing will. They will face danger and stare it down and they will fight until they are nothing more than ash.**

* * *

_**Ley lines are something that was brought up briefly in Ocean's Own Stories (chapter 13; Concussion I believe). A proper explanation, however, is probably required. One of the definitions for ley lines is that they're lines of energy beneath the ground or something along those lines. In these stories, they're natural paths deep under the earth's surface that carry chakra (composed of natural energy). That's the short of it. If you want more information, drop a comment! I've got a bit written on it. A massive shout out here to DarkScarletRose (AO3) for dropping the first idea of ley lines and helping me figure them all out back when I was still writing Current Strength.**_

_**I'm so, so sorry for all the original characters. But I can't use any of the canon characters here - not yet, at least. If anyone wants a quick breakdown of what characters are here or who does what, let me know! If a lot of people are confused, I might end up making a Tumblr post with a quick breakdown since there are a lot of OCs here, but that's the nature of creating a new village, I guess.**_

_**We will be seeing the resolution to the seal formation later on. But I won't write all the technicalities of the seal out, because it is such a massive project and would be very difficult to figure everything out. However! We will be seeing what it does and it's going to be quite an important part in reforming Uzushio's barriers and defences. After all, things become slightly more difficult if the island you're trying to get to is slightly off in positioning. It means you don't know for certain the currents or where any underwater dangers are. In the end, you can still see the islands, but it's become more dangerous to get to. In time, such things will be overcome, but that's the future and they're in more danger now than they will be in the future when they've recovered most, if not all, of their strength.**_

_**Toru has a bad day, not much more needs to be said. Shōta is a bloody legend and also completely unexpected. He keeps grabbing a role bigger than the one he was meant to conform to. I probably should have expected that by now. I do appreciate him as a character, though.**_

_**Volcanoes are awful, awful things. Why can I not just google how to stop a volcano erupting without getting the answer it's "impossible"? Like no! I did not want to come up with how to do it. So, instead, I just spoke about all the dangers and then let it drift off into the sidelines. This was done because a) figuring out how to stop a volcano erupting realistically is very, very difficult and b) Toru's got a lot of other issues to handle and probably needs to be in Uzushio proper, not off on a volcano.**_

_**Day 21 comprises of a lot of society organisation that had to be written but nothing I wanted to spend a lot of time on. Hopefully I didn't just drop it all and leave you guys confused. But, it did have to be done. Also Toru is absolutely not aware that he's being considered Uzukage by pretty much everyone. He hasn't put much of a thought into it, to be honest. But he's assuming that he won't be Uzukage. He's wrong. You know that, I know that, his people know that. He does not - yet. It'll be a fun realisation, I'm sure.**_

_**Also, I want you all to know that I now have a rough map of Uzushio as a village (and, of course, Uzu no Kuni as a group of islands and their to-be position in the world as a whole). Hence why there are named districts and whatnot. I can now track where characters go and make sure things actually make sense and I don't get myself lost in a village of my creation.**_

_**Fuyuko is a returning character! For those who remember Sea Dreams still, she's the Uzumaki that Toru talks to in the Academy and helps him later with his seal creations. Aside from her, most of the other characters are new. Both Michi and Shōta appeared earlier when Toru met a group of Uzushio refugees, but neither had major parts. Shōta, I believe, was mentioned by name only.**_

_**I think that's all I've got to say for this chapter! It's been a pretty long note. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Keep looking after yourselves guys! And I promise the next chapter will be good fun and include a canon character. (If you want to talk, I'm on Tumblr under silent-silver-slip.)**_


	17. Part 2: Triumphs

_**Review ****answers:**_

_**Shy911 - Congrats on catching up! I'm glad to hear you've been enjoying this. We're finally getting into the thick of things now and it's great fun. And honestly, I'm so lucky that someone mentioned the jinchuriki and I realised I'd forgotten them previously. And the world absolutely shifted in response to their meeting up. **_

_**TigrezzTail - We love people being able to find new homes, especially when their past ones were awful. And maps are so helpful! Most of my original works have one because you need to keep track of their progress somehow when they move about. And as Uzushio and Uzu no Kuni doesn't really have anything to base it off, I created one as a result. Has it seen much use beyond the chapters around this point? Not really, but it was helpful back when I was writing this section (arc?). **_

_**LadyMidnightBat - Toru's reaction to being Uzukage, I feel, is a treat. I remember what happens but I don't remember the scenes around it, but it should be a bit humorous? Maybe? Toru gets all the people! He just collects them. Accidentally. Out of love.**_

* * *

**Day 25**

Toru's discussing the last of the new outpost placements when a group of clan kids come bounding up to him. The others around him smile, seal the maps away, and they turn their attention to the kids who all seem excited by something. "What's up?" Toru asks, dropping down to crouch in front of them.

"There's a fleet coming!" One of the kids says loudly.

_(Toru's heart pounds and he forgets how to breathe.)_

"It's the Nanami Clan," says the teenager who appears in a body flicker next to the kids. "We've checked and had a report back."

"The Nanami?" Toru breathes out, barely stumbling over the words as relief sweeps over him. They only have a few members of the Nanami Clan currently. It makes sense that there'd be a force of them out there.

"A _fleet?_" He echoes, the words finally breaking past the block in his head. Rising to his feet, he exchanges surprised looks with the others around him.

However, thinking about it, it makes sense. Uzushio hadn't boasted a ship force previously. They'd only had ships for civilians and traders. It was easier to run on the sea to navigate the whirlpools, and the other islands were close enough that no one ever struggled to reach them by water walking. When people had fled Uzushio, though, they'd left by boat for the most part. And the Nanami Clan were well suited to ships considering their affinity for water chakra.

It's easy, to let a grin grow on his face, as he races towards the bay. The wind dances alongside him, and he comes to a halt on the edge of one dock. Uzushio's chakra, still weak but growing stronger every passing day as people give chakra through the seals, flickers against his senses.

_(Bring our people back, Uzushio had told him once when he was dying or dead or in-between. Together, they'd reached out across the world and called their people back together.)_

Toru laughs and beneath him, Uzushio seems to sing. _This_ is a promise fulfilled. _This_ is their village complete. _This_ is their people back at long last.

Ahead, on the deep blue of the sea, ships are approaching. It's a fleet, but nothing like Kirigakure's. Not all of them are warships. Most of them aren't, in fact. However, it's tricky to tell from a distance and Toru's never claimed to know much about boats.

Still, he stands and waits for the last of his people to reach Uzushio's shores. There may be more people to come in the future, but he knows that this will be the last massive group of refugees. They are all home now.

* * *

Hiroto Nanami was born after the fall of Uzushio. In fact, he'd been born after the war—technically. The announcement for the war's official ending had come only days earlier. His parents like to joke that he had brought peace when he was born. It was funny, in a painful, kind of ironic way. Because no Uzushio descendent was born to peace. They were all born in a war—until now, it seems.

_(War left those from Uzushio, descended and otherwise, scattered and always in hiding, refugees with names they couldn't claim out of fear. Hiroto was born to this war and another kind of war. Born to the Nanami Clan, those who survived and found lives on the sea; because they wanted the sea and no port town could hold all of them. They lived on the sea, fought on the sea, causing chaos for Kirigakure in revenge for everything they couldn't do.)_

As Uzushio comes into sight, Hiroto rolls one shoulder and nods at his second mate. "Prepare for disembarking!" He calls out, raising a hand to gesture at the ships beside his. The orders are transmitted across the division and, in front of them, the other divisions are doing the same. The bay is protected that they don't need to leave anyone on board—and Hiroto doesn't want to either. This is Uzushio, the village out of stories, and he knows everyone wants to see it.

Hiroto's division is made up of Nanami, _(and it doesn't matter if neither of their parents had been Nanani originally; they are all Nanami)_, who can all water-walk, so they don't worry about getting any of the rowboats out. Instead, they drop onto the ocean's surface and run to the shore where it looks like the vast majority of Uzushio is preparing to greet them.

By the time he reaches the shore, the other two division commanders have joined the fleet commander and a few other unknown faces. Mami—first division commander—meets his eyes and gestures for him to join them when he can. Hiroto nods in return and then turns to his second mate.

"I'll keep an eye on all of them," they agree immediately, before Hiroto can even say anything. "You join the meeting."

"Thanks," Hiroto says before jogging between people to join the other leaders.

"This is Hiroto," Toshiko says as he reaches them. "Commander of the third division, Ripputaido, stealth orientated."

"Good afternoon, Hiroto-san," one of the strangers says. "I'm Toru. It's a pleasure to meet you."

_(Toru is small, young. Definitely not eighteen Hiroto would bet. Yet he stands like a seasoned ninja, like a younger version of the oldest, strongest Nanamis who had once been more than a fighter on a fleet of ships. He stands like he's used to authority and power and strength. The strangest bit, Hiroto finds, is that he stands like he's at ease with the others around him. Hiroto's the youngest of the division commanders at twenty-two and often doesn't feel at ease. He doesn't know how Toru manages it.)_

Just avoiding glancing at the fleet commander, Hiroto dips his head. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well," he says, grateful that it doesn't sound like a question.

Toru smiles at them, and Hiroto wonders what's going to happen now. He knows for a fact that the fleet won't disband—can't disband. It's in their blood, _(his blood; he would refuse to abandon it forever, and he knows his crew and most of his division feel the same way)_. "The Nanami Clan Compound is open to all of you," Toru says. "If you wish to discuss it in further detail, Hachirō is currently serving as Clan Head, I believe. And Uzushio, of course, welcomes all of you home." The younger shinobi, _(because he clearly is, Hiroto can see that)_, pauses and looks past them, gazing at their ships, before his gaze flashes to them and seems to see right through them. Hiroto fights the sudden urge to shiver. "You're not going to be required to stay here if you don't want to. But you're always welcome here."

"Some of our people will be happy to no longer live on the sea," Toshiko says. She glances at the three division commanders. "The divisions themselves, though, I couldn't speak for."

Yoshirō, loose and looking more relaxed than he has in eons, tips his head sideways, eyes following a group of her division as they mingle with the crowds. "Kachū is a defensive division," she says, mainly to Toru—who appears to be speaking for everyone at the moment, _(and who he is, Hiroto wants to ask, and why does it seem like he's heard the shinobi speak before?)_. "For the most part, we've been guarding the ships filled with those who aren't part of the fighting forces. I can't speak for everyone, but many of us would prefer to be close to Uzushio's shores yet don't want to give up our current ways of living."

"I think that can be arranged," Toru replies easily. "Uzu no Kuni's seas would need to be patrolled, and I think Kachū would serve that purpose perfectly well, don't you agree? And I'm sure we can find other purposes in our seas as well."

"Thank you, Toru-sama," Yoshirō says, bowing, and Hiroto wonders if Yoshirō feels like she's finally returned home, _(she was six when Uzushio fell and Hiroto can't remember her ever speaking of memories of the village that fell long ago)_.

"Most of my division will want to stay on," Hiroto adds. "It's likely we'll stick with the first division for the most part. I imagine there'll be missions where we could be helpful though, especially if it's somewhere not close to Uzu no Kuni."

Toru nods. "I think we'll have to trial a few things and see how they go," he says, glancing at the older woman next to him. "But yes, that's probably a good founding idea."

"There'll be quite a few ships from Harō that'll be willing to settle here," Mami says. Considering she leads the largest division, Hiroto isn't too surprised. Most people join the defence or attack divisions, but given the choice of peace? A lot of people would abandon ship for that opportunity. "But many of us are set in our current lifestyle."

The words sound like a warning, and they are. Hiroto knows this. If anyone from Uzushio tries to stop them, the fleet will rain down fire and thunder and show exactly why 'pirates' merit high bounties.

Nonetheless, Toru doesn't seem to feel threatened by Mami's words. Instead, he hums. "Uzushio's never had a fleet," he says, "but things are always in flux. Do try to come home to here on occasion though." His gaze moves away from them, sweeping over the crowds and the sounds of celebration, _(and Hiroto can almost see what it'll be like once everything's sorted; can see a celebration and laughter and wonder—the basics are there for something great and beautiful)_. "I think we'd all appreciate it." Turning back to them, he smiles. "For now, however, we can deal with all the details later. Go out and enjoy yourselves, yeah? Explore if you want. Uzushio's open to all of you."

Hiroto breathes in. Breathes out. And he thinks this is likely to be the start of something new.

_(It's the end of a war he's been born to. He doesn't quite know how to feel about that yet.)_

* * *

**Day 27**

"Unknown ninja approaching from the bay!"

The shout sends the world around Toru erupting into chaos; organised chaos, at the very least. People are preparing to move and protect civilians along with major buildings. Toru turns away from his discussion with a few others and towards the bay. A ninja body flickers, landing in front of him on silent feet.

"S-ranked missing-nin," they report, _(to him)_. "They match descriptions of Konoha's missing-nin Orochimaru, but we can't confirm that."

Adrenaline's starting to kick in and Toru carefully controls his breathing. "Anything else?" He says, preparing to head towards Uzushio's bay.

"A nearby sensor identified a further three ninjas," the ninja says. "No identification for them as far as we can tell. They all appear to be wearing a hitai-ate for Otogakure."

That makes sense. As far as Toru knows, Orochimaru is the Kage for Otogakure, _(but he hasn't learnt as much as he wants to about Otogakure's formation)._ A moment is also Toru gives himself to mourn the lack of a cohesive team, before throwing himself into a body flicker.

A group of ninjas are clustered on the beach. When he arrives, a few of them turn to him and approach, leaving their colleagues to remain on watch. "Reina-san," Toru says, turning to the Uzumaki who approaches. They haven't worked together closely, but Toru's aware of her, _(and aware that her file marks her as a potential ANBU; he has an idea for a position for her already)_. "Can you organise a defence here in case they try to attack us and we fail to stop them?"

Reina frowns, but nods. "Do you want me to see if we can get some medics here?"

Despite the tense situation, Toru smiles. "Yes, and keep anyone below jōnin ranking away. Orochimaru is dangerous and we don't know the level of those he brings with him."

"Got it. Are you planning to face them out there?"

"I'd prefer it to here," Toru says with a sharp nod. "I'm aiming to catch him after the boats to avoid damaging them though." He glances around the group, trying to pick out who to bring with him, _(he doesn't want any of them to die at his side)_. In the end, he races out onto the water with nine ninjas at his back.

The sea is calm beneath his feet when he comes to a slow stop, _(he doesn't know if it's a blessing or not)_. Ahead, Orochimaru and his ninjas approach. The fact that they're not appearing hostile is the only thing that has Toru gesturing to the others to hold. They fan out, pairing together without discussion, _(he's proud of them for this; they don't know each other and they're not teammates, but they're Uzushio so they stick together without question)_; one even at his back.

Orochimaru stepped forward, away from his ninjas, _(and they were all young, but—more importantly—they were all Uzushio's)_. Before he can talk, however, Toru speaks. "Orochimaru-san, Uzumaki-san, Hayashi-san, Kaguya-san, I can't say we were expecting you, so forgive us if our hospitality isn't what it's expected to be."

Whilst Orochimaru doesn't pause, it seems like Toru has forced him to change his initial plan. And yet Toru doesn't focus on that, instead looking at the ninjas Orochimaru had brought. At least one of them was obviously impacted by Toru's greeting, _(a name given freely; an acknowledgement of family; some things will always undermine someone and shift the world beneath their feet)_.

"I can't say I'd heard of anything to expect." Orochimaru's tone is mild; his words less so. Toru doesn't refuses to let the words impact him. If Orochimaru thinks that the world not knowing of Uzushio is something to be ashamed of, that's not Toru's problem. Toru is proud of no one having heard of Uzushio's return.

"And yet here you are, on our shores," Toru returns.

"Your shores?" Orochimaru raises an eyebrow, tone just shy of mocking. "I thought you called Konoha your home, Toru _Uchiha_. I had not heard that Konoha had banished you. And yet, it does not surprise me. Konoha does so dearly love to sweep things out of the light and hidden at the roots of the tree. Do they not?"

Toru's shoulders rise, body language becoming tense, _(there is much more to a conversation than simply words, and he knows this well)_. "What would you know of it?" He spits out, hostile and angry, _(and acting)_. Orochimaru thinks him to be a ninja betrayed by Konoha, thinks him a child, thinks him a Uchiha. He is none of those things.

_(He is all of those things.)_

In response, Orochimaru's body language appears to come more relaxed, looser, _(dangerous)_. "You do not think you are the only ninja Konoha has left, do you? There have been many of us throughout the years."

"Us?" Toru echoes, _(and he wonders if Orochimaru realises that he isn't controlling the conversation so much as Toru is letting him do so)_.

"You're not the only one Konoha has vilified and cast out, Toru," Orochimaru responds, seemingly steady, _(but something tells Toru that Orochimaru is not as alright with this as he seems)_. "They didn't support my goals and so they thought it better to push me aside and betray me, and then pretend that _I_ was the one in the wrong."

"Your goals?" Toru echoes, trying to figure out if there's any way he can avoid getting into a fight with Orochimaru without appearing to give in to the man's words.

"All I wished to do was survive to see my parents reborn," Orochimaru says and the words certainly aren't well-worn. It makes Toru pay attention—because that's not a lie. Every ninja worth their chakra knows that a good lie has part of the truth, but if you really want to gain someone's sympathy, you tell the whole truth in a way that the other person will likely feel sad upon hearing. And Toru doesn't know Orochimaru well. Doesn't actually know him at all, but he knows that's not a lie. That's a truth. And-

And the world doesn't work like that. Yes, their souls reincarnate, but Toru only remembers his past life due to Uzushio's interference. His chakra had been different this time. How would Orochimaru know whether his parents had been reborn or not?

_(Uzushio is at Toru's back and he cannot fall here. Will not fall. So maybe it's time to throw off the façade and try to speak sense into the older ninja. Because maybe there is a way that this doesn't end in a battle to the death.)_

A shift of posture gains everyone's attention and Toru let go off any anger Orochimaru's words had caused, _(he doesn't quite know why he's angry, but there's something hateful and hurting deep in his chest—it's not important though, and it certainly won't guide his actions)_. "There's something you're missing, Orochimaru-san," Toru says, stressing the suffix.

This time Orochimaru's pause is slightly more obvious, enough that some of the other ninjas pick up on it. "Oh?" He says. "Do tell."

Toru grins, fierce and wild and proud. "Konoha did not cast me out. I did not abandon one village for another. I stayed when Uzushio asked if I would. I returned when I felt that it was time for our village to stand again. And then I called my people home to a place of refuge so they no longer had to run and hide like they have done for decades." Toru meets Orochimaru's gaze, reads the sudden understanding there, reads the danger there too.

"How come you get to come back?" Orochimaru throws out, the words anger. Toru's ninjas prepare for a fight and so do the Oto-nins. "What made _you_ worth it?"

"Nothing," Toru says flatly. "Uzushio helped me remember but without her? I'd be nothing. Souls aren't made to remember. When your parents are reborn they'll be _kids_." The word's spat out. It'll anger Orochimaru Toru knows, but that's not the point. The point is to drive forward the truth—Orochimaru is too dangerous to live in a delusion, destroying people's lives just to find the ones he calls 'parents'.

_(Toru does not scream that he has been missing his parents for decades. He does not scream that there are tons of children out there who have no families and no love and no parents and need help. These are not the words he wants Orochimaru to hear.)_

Orochimaru darts forward, sword high and seemingly appearing from nowhere. He's fast and gives no sign of moving before he does.

But Toru's speed is one of the few things he's proud to call his own, _(a legacy to Shisui in every way that matters and a few ways that it doesn't)_. So he shifts out of the way, kunai deflecting the attack that comes from low rather than high. His strength isn't something to compare to Orochimaru's, especially not with a kunai. Darting around instead, he sends water flying upwards with a surge of chakra that isn't part of any jutsu.

However, Orochimaru doesn't need sight to attack, and there's no reprieve to be found. Toru's driven backward under the onslaught, surviving by the skin of his teeth. The major issue is that he doesn't have his sword on him, thought he didn't need it for the day, and Orochimaru's got extended reach as a result. He doesn't want to use ninjutsu either, since that might lead to Orochimaru using ninjutsu and Orochimaru isn't crippled by trying to contain the damage like Toru is.

Taijutsu isn't Toru's strong point though. It never has been, _(teams are meant to cover each other's weaknesses and he doesn't have his team)_. Still, he does his best. Ducks beneath blows, flips around others. Deflects and deflects. He can't keep it up forever though.

A few seconds before he stumbles, a group of senbons flick past him, that Orochimaru whirls away to avoid. It's not much breathing space, but it's enough. He gathers himself, coiled strength and chakra, and bursts forward. Takes to the offence and forces Orochimaru to remain on the defensive.

What lets him keep on the attack, though, isn't his skills. It's the kunoichi behind him, throwing handfuls of weapons with pin-point accuracy; missing Toru and forcing Orochimaru to keep a wary eye out.

A staggered chakra burst has him leaping backwards, and before Orochimaru can capitalise on it, two others leap forward together to attack him.

"The Hayashi-nin is causing problems," says a ninja beside him. Toru nods, leaps forward, slipping between two chakra chains.

The Hayashi Clan were known in Uzushio for their affinity for natural chakra and the danger that rose from it. More than anything, they were known for the seals that helped them control the natural chakra. The Hayashi-nin that Orochimaru had brought along lacked such seals.

Pausing to take stock of the situation, Toru considers the best way to deal with it. Because the Kaguya is defending the Hayashi—and that's important. They care about each other, but it also means that taking down one will make the other fight harder.

Toru grins.

_(Uzushio was forgotten, legends becoming myths, stories going untold. And people liked to forget about the fear Uzushio brought to battlefields. Ninjas don't have to fight seal masters now. They have forgotten the danger.)_

_(Uzushio has not.)_

The Uzu-nins fighting with Toru might not be seal masters, but Toru is. Calling the seals to mind, he leaps forward, flipping between blows and twisting. One hand grazes the Hayashi and, with a forward roll, he tags the Kaguya with the same seal. Both go down, eyes wide; paralysed and chakra-bound.

Two hand signs to two of the Uzu-nins sends them back to shore. Then, Toru joins in the attack on Orochimaru, who's snarling something fierce. He doesn't target Toru, slams through two ninjas in the span of ten seconds and Toru watches them go down. Forces himself to continue.

Toru leans into a punch, rolls when he misses, comes up behind Orochimaru, striking out with a kunai that cuts through clothing but does nothing else. "Your parents would be kids if they're reborn," he hisses out, _(and he's angry for all of them)_. "Reborn into this cruel, fucked up world."

Darting backwards, he catches a kick against his sternum, uses it to flip in the air and land back on his feet. "Shouldn't you try to make the world better for them?" He accuses, and a split lip stings. He's not sure how—or when—he got it. It doesn't matter anyway. "They won't be the same as they were. But-"

Orochimaru's chakra flares, dark and heavy and dense. He lashes out, and it lands heavy against Toru's cheek. And Toru rocks backward, feels something break, and spits out blood. The battlefield pauses and he grins with blood-flecked teeth.

_(It would be easy to be cruel. It's easy to see the words he could take. It is harder to not say them, but he's never taken the easy path and he's not about to start now.)_

In the end, Toru doesn't have to say anything as the poison finally hits Orochimaru's system, and he lunges forward to prevent the paralysed shinobi from drowning. A pair of cockroaches land on his shoulder. "Dosage?" He asks the Ishimoto one.

"High," the cockroach says, shuffling on Toru's shoulder. "But he seems able to fight it, so I reckon he'll be on his feet sooner than he should be."

"Thanks," Toru tells his summons before they disappear.

_(They are all ninjas. It is clear in how every defence of Orochimaru hides an attack, how every obvious attack turns into a sly sidestep, how every action hides another. And Toru is a ninja. Orochimaru had expected him to be flashy, to be fire, but Toru is not. From the beginning, he had plans in mind; a surge of uncontrolled chakra to hide his summons; a few words to push Orochimaru off-balance; forcing himself to deflect first before attacking. He forced the situation to work for him.)_

The Uzumaki-nin gives in when Orochimaru stops fighting, following slowly with an escort of wary ninjas around her. She pays them no attention, however, instead her gaze flickers between Orochimaru and the world around her.

Upon reaching the shore, Toru's ninjas quickly swarm them. Medic-nins see to their remaining injuries and Toru knows he's probably going to be lectured about avoidable injuries later, but right now there's more important things to be done.

Reina had clearly thought ahead, as there are two seal-masters with already drawn seals that are standard for ninja prisoners in Uzushio. Toru's not entirely sure how he wants to play this yet. Still, Orochimaru is already stirring so Toru wastes no more time deliberating, simply placing the seals down.

Orochimaru jerks upright, barely stumbling, but Toru sees how unbalanced the shinobi is. "What did you do to me?" Orochimaru hisses, eyes narrowed.

Toru stares back. "You came to our shores and attacked," he throws back. Refusing to fold his arms, he adds, "You'll stay here until we come to an understanding with Otogakure _or_ we decide that you're no longer a major threat to Uzushio. Your ninjas can take messages to Uzushio, but we will also offer them to stay here with you so long as they remained sealed."

Orochimaru snarls. "I will not be a prisoner!"

Swallowing, Toru considers his words. Orochimaru's mind is kunai-sharp, in intellect, but it trembles on the edge of a kunai too. It's like there's a sharp contrast between what Orochimaru believes and what he does.

There's no kindness to be offered here. Toru's a ninja and he can't afford to be kind all the time, _(he would set the world on fire for Uzushio; people like to ignore that fact)_. "It could be worse," he says instead.

"What? Will my prison be _bigger_? That doesn't change the fact you will chain me here." The words are acid. They are not wrong.

"No, it doesn't," Toru agrees. Nothing would change that fact, but already he could see Orochimaru's body language changing—preparing for a new conversation to gain some control over the situation. Toru doesn't let him, though, stepping back and disengaging. Turning to the escorting group, he says, "See whether any of the Oto-nins want to know more about their clans. Offer the Hayashi-nin access to the seals that will help him control his kekkei genkai."

"You got it, Toru-sama," Reina answers with a nod.

Toru smiles, turns away, _(doesn't think about regret)_.

* * *

**Day 26**

On the shores of the mainland, they debated what was calling them. Uzu no Kuni was in front of them, they knew—but Uzushiogakure had been dead for eons. Still, something was over there. Something strange, _(and safe, they hoped)_. Whatever it was, they agreed to keep the fact that they were jinchūriki quiet for now.

Together, they cross the ocean quickly, Fū cheerfully leading them onwards, _(appearances matter; they are all ninjas, they know this)_. They hit the shores of Uzu no Kuni and then keep going.

_(The urge in their bones doesn't get stronger, but somehow fiercer, like it knows they are at the end of their journey.)_

They run into a group of ninjas on their way. None of them have any village identifying marks, but they're moving quickly. However, upon seeing them the group of jinchūriki they pause. Almost immediately, Rōshi feels himself tense.

However, against all the odds, the ninjas don't attack or anything; instead, the one who seems to act as the leader calls a halt. "Did you guys get the call as well?" She asks.

Han steps forward, _(he seems to be acting leader for their small group, and Rōshi doesn't mind, can't mind when it's Han)_. "Do you know anything about it?" He asks.

The ninja grins, fierce and wild and happy, _(a story that there that Rōshi doesn't yet know)_. "Decades after Kirigakure's invasion, Uzushio has finally called all of us home again. The village welcomes you inside no matter who you are or what you can do, whether you be a ninja or a civilian."

"Uzushio?" Fū echoes, eyes wide. Han and Rōshi exchange glances. "But…"

The kunoichi seems to know what Fū is getting at, and their grin becomes something a bit blood-thirsty. "Uzushio did not fall quietly, and didn't fall at all for the most part. Our people scattered, and now we all come. Everyone comes home."

In the end, the trio of jinchūriki follow the ninjas across Uzu no Kuni and into Uzushio. They're abandoned in Uzushio to someone else. The person they're given to doesn't seem very busy at the time, but he's young—Fū's age, Rōshi reckons.

"I'm Toru," he says, smiling at them. "Welcome to Uzushio. Give me one second please." Han nods, and the younger shinobi gestures at someone nearby—a civilian, Rōshi assumes, _(it's weird)_. "Alright, that's dealt with. What are your names?"

"I'm Han, with me are Rōshi and Fū."

"Nice to meet you," Toru says, still somehow smiling. "This is Uzushio. We're still finding our feet for the most part, but you will definitely have somewhere to stay. There's free food for helping out with anything, but it can also be bought—we've starting getting a fish market going since some of the civilians have been fishing." He pauses, and Rōshi- Rōshi remembers how to breathe.

_(This is so much. Too much. A debt will be owed, surely. Yet, at the same time, anything free offered is quickly given a reason. It's not like anything Rōshi has ever experienced, but it's not like the village—Uzushio—can do anything else.)_

"You don't have to make a decision now," Toru says quietly, _(and it's almost like he knows how thye all feel; the fear, the hope, their various worries)_. "And Uzushio is always open if you come to us."

Someone steps up to his side—another civilian, this one a child even younger than Fū. She whispers something to Toru, who nods his head, says "Thanks," and then turns his gaze to the three jinchūriki, _(his gaze seems almost heavy and yet he is so young; but something in Rōshi rails against considering this shinobi as someone who he could take down with ease—there's something dangerous there)_. "You'll be safe here," he says and Rōshi knows that Toru knows that they are jinchūriki. He doesn't know how, but…

But he thinks he might be willing to find out if Toru's words hold true.

_(Fū learnt she could fly by flinging herself into the air and finding out whether she did have wings. She'd told them on the way over. Rōshi has a feeling that this might just be their turn to try and fly.)_

* * *

**Day 28**

It's not quite a celebration—or it didn't start as one, at the very least. Still, Toru can't quite bring himself to mind the outcome as he observes the revelry going on below. There are two bonfires on the beach itself and more flames dance as torches to keep everything well-lit. Foods being handed out and consumed at an astonishing rate and there are people dancing, chaotic and somehow graceful at the same time.

None of it had been planned for. They're all still far too ready for everything to go wrong, to return to the running lifestyles they're trying to leave behind. In the end, it had all worked out though.

The very thought of it sends a thrill rushing through Toru's body. It had worked! Their seal had been massive and required so much chakra and had been so much work—but it was all worth it. Will always be worth it. Shifting Uzu no Kuni would only benefit them.

What they've done feels like something out of a story. Toru knows the other seal masters who worked on the project with him feel the same high; feel like they're legends now that it's done, _(and they are—but they don't know that)_.

Toru's sitting near a few other ninjas on a roof simply watching the festivities. He's starting to consider retiring when an Uzumaki he's briefly spoken to—Nori—drops down to sit beside him. "Hey," he says, voice soft.

"Hey, Toru-sama," Nori says, smiling. She pauses, eyes flicking away from him and then back. Meeting his eyes, she continues, "On behalf of the Uzumaki Clan, I am here to let you know that we consider you ally, friend, and family—whatever label you decide to take. We offer you a home and safety, if you decide to take it."

_(The words don't quite follow tradition. But Nori had spoken with her clan elders and those of other clans, because Toru is family but didn't seem to realise he could claim them.)_

On the palm of her hand rests an Uzumaki red glass bead and a dark blue thin ribbon; the word kin and variations thereof stitched onto it. Swallowing, Nori continues, "The ribbon can be used as a chakra conduct, allowing you to activate any seals that are bound by Uzumaki blood if they don't initially work for you."

_(There are rumours that say Toru is an Uchiha, an Uzumaki, that he is the Toru of old. Toru who claims no surname, but looks like he might be an Uzumaki or an Uchiha, and matches what the stories claim Toru of old has done. And whether he is or isn't doesn't matter. He's family and Uzumaki and that's enough for her clan.)_

Toru gently takes the bead and ribbon. "It's an honour," he says, words just shy of choked. In response, Nori grins, and-

And she can see the way Toru doesn't quite know how to respond, but she's not close enough to comfort him. She's a chūnin, an Uzumaki, and he is their leader, _(their Uzukage)_.

Behind him, a kunoichi meets Nori's gaze and inclines her head, stepping closer. Barely avoiding breathing a sigh of relief, Nori nods back and disappears into the crowds below.

Meanwhile, Toru stares down at the items in his hand, heart pounding. Because they've labelled him as an Uzumaki, as _family_, _(like Toru didn't abandon his family the moment it suited him)_.

"Breathe," someone says, voice low and soft and gentle, _(he doesn't deserve to have a family anymore)_. Toru forces himself to breathe. In. Hold. Out. "That's it."

The voice is familiar and Toru drags his eyes away from the items in his hand, towards the kunoichi crouching beside him, _(an echo of a memory; another kunoichi beside him; a dream that was a memory; a realisation that shaped him)_. She's the one who'd helped him in the fight with Orochimaru the other day.

_(They hadn't clicked in the fight, hadn't instantly fought back-to-back, but they had fought together well despite having no experience with one another prior to the fight. It's not much more than potential, but it's a starting point. It could be more. If they wanted it.)_

Toru blinks. His eyelids feel heavy. "I'm alright," he says, the words thick on his tongue.

Dai Nishikawa looks at him evenly with brown eyes. "If you say so," she says.

There's no one left to call Toru out on his words. Dai's words are mildly criticising but… but there's nothing there but an offer to listen or an offer to believe him. He swallows, considers. Unclenches his hand.

Dai simply waits for him to respond and seems perfectly willing to wait as long as he needs. Somehow, it's getting easier and easier to breathe, _(a weight taken from his shoulders)_.

"Maybe I'm not," Toru breathes out, slow; steadying. He glances at the items in his hand once again, raises his hand in offering to Dai. "But I will be. Could you help?"

_(And there is more to his words. Could Dai help with his hair? Could Dai help him as a friend, as a person? Would Dai be willing to stick by him? Was Dai willing to try?)_

Gently, Dai takes the items and situates herself properly on the roof, fingers starting to run through Toru's hair; gentle and sure. Toru remains danger-still, trusting but not that trusting.

_(Yes, she says without words. I will help with this and I will stand by your side and I will be your friend. I would be your teammate, if you would let me. I see you here alone and I will not let you stay that way—if you will let me help.)_

Together, as twilight ventures into evening, they continue to breathe. It gets easier.

* * *

**At long last, all of Uzushio's clans reside within her walls, whether they want to or not. The Nanami Clan returns in triumph and in strength. Orochimaru attempts to manipulate and gain power, but Toru stands strong and Uzushio stands with him. **


	18. Part 2: Choices

_**Review answers:**_

_**TigrezzTail - Considering Karin didn't know what was calling her, it's fair that he didn't know what to expect (and it's well documented that Uzushio has a seal barrier keeping the village safe and no one has managed to get through in the years since Uzushio's fall). He definitely didn't expect anything he was faced with, but he still did considerably well despite that. Which should probably be expected, considering he is a sannin.**_

_**LadyMidnightBat - Ahaha, that's fair! Orochimaru is a Character, though an interesting one to read/write about when done right. Canon Orochimaru, though, is rather awful and I definitely do not condone most of his actions. As to the pack and everything? Well... Sometimes things come unexpectedly into a plot that's already created, the dogs were one of those. And Toru definitely knew how to avoid being tracked. Hopefully this chapter meets your expectations! I'm very excited to finally share it with everyone. BECAUSE GUESS WHO'S BACK!**_

_**Dragons and Dragons - Fuu is cool, I agree! And Toru's relationships with (sur)names is tricky because he doesn't quite know what to claim as his last name (he is Toru, it is the one constant throughout his multiple lives). And well, I'll let you see how Toru reacts. **_

* * *

**Day 30**

Souma considers the idea sooner than he'd ever admit to. It'd only been a week before he was ready to try and follow Toru. Still, he'd stuck around for longer; tried to be patient; tried to wait. Even before Toru had left, Souma had known how important the younger shinobi was to him, knew how strong their friendship was.

It's not easy to keep going without Toru. Their team's now down to Sora and him, and they've been given mobile positions—moving around either as a pair or by themselves to fill out a position briefly in a team. More often than not, though, they go out together and complete missions together.

By now, it's been a month and Toru isn't back yet. Hasn't even sent them a message—and that hurts more than anything else. At the same time, he knows Toru thinks far too little of himself to realise that he's still wanted. It's slightly funny, in a painful ironic way, that all of their team has—at some point—struggled with their own self-worth. Both Sora and him had been taught to see themselves as a tool, someone with no autonomy. They had been taught that they weren't people, _(just bodies, just weapons, just a faceless army)_.

Nevertheless, they had learnt otherwise. Knew they were people. It's easier, now, to remember when their home contains various knickknacks and they eat food they like because they like it rather than so they have the correct nutrients. They do what they want, have _downtime_, and train because they want to and enjoy doing so.

_(It's something that their ANBU team, members past and present, has taught them, indirectly and directly. It's something that they'll always be thankful for.)_

And perhaps it's because they're not used to other people that they didn't initially pick up on the strange issues Toru had, simply adjusting to them. And maybe that's why they never really addressed it—and Souma finds himself regretting that now. Because maybe if they'd talked with Toru, told him that they wanted him around because they enjoyed his company. Souma knows he can't change the past, but that doesn't mean he can't talk with Toru. Not now, but when they find him.

He's not loyal to Konoha. Not really. Not since he was out of ROOT and realising things for himself. He's loyal to Toru first and foremost.

_(People like to think ANBU have the most loyalty out of all the ninja corps, and maybe they do. But they also have the least to lose, because you can't keep people close when there are secrets and there's classified information and you can't have people asking questions. It means you aren't often tied down by anyone outside of ANBU. For Souma, and for Sora too, Toru had been an attachment that went beyond ANBU. It had been the only one apart from each other.)_

Souma's a few rooftops away from the Hokage building when Sora joins him. They'd planned for this. Spoken about it at length multiple times. The paperwork was complete and handed in; the only things left were the formalities. They won't be denied this, but that knowledge doesn't ease Souma's worries in the least.

Gently, Sora's hand bumps him. A careful and quiet reminder. He isn't alone. Neither of them are. And this is going to work. It has to.

_(ROOT taught its soldiers to plan based on their skills. ROOT never taught its soldiers to get by on hope when it's all you have. And yet, Sora and Souma know this well.)_

Upon reaching the Hokage's office, they're soon ushered in for their quick meeting. The Godaime Hokage sits behind her desk whilst Sora and Souma face her, standing in parade rest.

She looks up from some paperwork. "Abe-san, Asano-san, you applied for training leave, correct? Estimating two weeks maximum outside of Konoha's walls?"

Souma and Sora both nod. Don't shift their feet, no matter how much they feel the need to.

The Hokage audibly hums, places the paperwork on the top of a pile. Tsunade surveys the two ninjas in front of her. She doesn't know them properly, just has vague familiarity with their files. They've spent something like three years in ANBU and before that they were ROOT, _(and Tsunade remembers reading those files, remembers raging, remembers weeping)_.

Neither of the ninjas in front of her were labelled flight risks. But neither was Toru Uchiha, _(who hadn't ran but had left, and Tsunade's starting to realise that the Uchiha seemed more important than she'd initially assumed)_, and they had been ANBU teammates. Tsunade's never been in ANBU, but she knows that teammate ties runner deep. Something in her chest tells her that these two aren't leaving Konoha for training purposes, but going hunting, searching.

"Your training leave has been accepted," she says. The two ninjas are too well trained, _(children taken to be soldiers)_, to visibly relax, but she imagines they do anyway. "Good luck." The two bow in response and leave her office.

_(They don't know where they're going. There have been no rumours and there's no information and they don't even have a direction to run in. But they know Toru. And Toru spoke about Uzushio in grief and in joy, and perhaps they should start their search there if nothing else. Besides, Uzushio could've been theirs, once. It wasn't, but they'd like to see their homeland once even if it lies in ruins.)_

* * *

**Day 31**

Kakumau initially had one goal: to provide resources to the street kids. But the organisation's goals grew alongside the organisation itself. With Toru and Tomoe at its head, they began programs and resource caches. It became bigger than Toru ever thought it would be. It was everything Tomoe had never imagined and she tried to make it everything she had ever wanted when she was younger.

With Uzushio as a proper base where they can operate out in the open, Kakumau takes on another—temporary—purpose. Ever so slowly, missions start slipping through shadowed hands to Uzushio with their cheap prices. Already, there are imports and exports going on with ninjas guiding the ships. Toru can't be prouder of how everyone's working together and understanding that it will be difficult, _(but they will get through it in time)_.

As he reviews a report, Toru considers the fact that he probably shouldn't be the one doing this. Raising his head, he glances around at the other people surrounding him. They're in one of the temporary shelters that's big enough to house multiple desks and acts as a main point of contact with everyone.

"We really should get around to electing an Uzukage," he says, squinting at a paragraph that doesn't seem to be staying on topic at all. Absorbed in his work, he doesn't notice the sudden silence that stills the people surrounding him, and their quick exchanges and signed conversations.

"Toru-sama," Michi starts, and Toru looks up when he hears the hidden laughter in her voice, "we've elected an Uzukage."

Toru frowns, thinks back over the past few weeks. "I don't seem to recall having an official election?"

"Not official, no," Michi agrees, "but it was a pretty obvious choice." She glares at someone over Toru's shoulder. He doesn't turn around to see who it is, _(but he does wonder why they all seem to be stifling their laughter at Michi's words)_.

"And the new Uzukage is...?"

Michi's left eye twitches in the corner. Maybe. However, there's a smile on her face and she bows deeply.

Toru's breath catches in his throat and he finally understands.

"Uzukage-sama, Uzushiogakure is yours to serve."

It's easy to smile, easy to breathe, despite the fact he's overcome with so much love for these people, this village. He wants to do his best to protect it. "I feel like someone should've told me that," he says, knowing full well he didn't entirely manage to hide his emotions. Still, he soldiers on, "In which case, there are some things I need to do outside of paperwork."

Standing up, Toru subtly stretches his muscles out before relaxing into a state of readiness. He supposes his promotion, _(is it even a promotion or is it a reinstatement?)_, explains why there's usually at least one person tailing him. He gathers his thoughts.

The councils. He should figure them out first. The Clan Council is straight forward and won't require much input from him. The Civilian Council will operate the same way it did previously—he can't say much about it since he never actively took part. But perhaps there should be a civilian representative, elected like the Uzukage is. There'll be the Ninja Council as well, which should have an elected representative to make things fair as well.

First order of business is ensuring that everyone in a position actually has an official position then. Second order of business is organising all three councils along with the Uzukage Council, and probably instating Michi as an Uzukage advisor, _(which she's already been doing)_.

"Let's get started then," someone says from a nearby desk, meeting his eyes and smiling. "No better time than the present."

* * *

**Day 32**

Sora twitches when Souma steps up next to her, already on edge. She breathes out carefully, loosens her shoulders. "You alright?" Souma asks quietly as he passes her something that isn't a ration bar.

She takes stock of herself. She's tense, but there's no panic accompanying it. It's easy to breathe. "Yes," she answers, a few beats later. "I'll be better when we have Toru with us again." Because she can pinpoint why she's anxious and it's because Toru's not with them, watching their backs. She's grateful for Souma, but there should be three of them.

Souma leans against her, pressing his shoulder against hers. "Same here," he says softly. "I didn't manage to hear any rumours or anything even suggesting that he came this way."

This is the third town they've entered relatively close to Konoha. None of them have contained any information on Toru. They've kept away from Hi no Kuni's borders so far and hopefully Toru hasn't gone past them. After all, they can't cross the borders legally and whilst they can—theoretically—sneak past the patrols, it's easier to avoid doing such things.

"I didn't either," Sora says. "I have nothing to go off. There wasn't even anything that just didn't add up."

Souma pulls a face. "Guess we could do with some help from Toru's information network," he jokes. She smiles in response.

_(It isn't so much a joke as either of them make it out to be. They all know that Toru has some kind of information network, even if they don't know how it came about. They don't ask either. Toru knows they know, but when they didn't ask, he seemed to relax.)_

"However," she continues, Souma shifts, becomes sharper, at the serious tone she adopts, "I did hear something interesting. They wouldn't say much about people moving, either individuals or groups, but they did mention a phrase: 'the sea never dies'. Don't suppose you've heard it before?"

Souma tilts his head, thinking back through his memories slowly. "I think I have," he says at last, glancing at her. "It feels familiar in a strange kind of way. I think… That mission, remember? When Eruku went down and Jakkaru led us forward—he said that phrase. They were people of Uzushio. He claimed that Uzushio's last Uzukage said it."

"That's…" She trails off. Souma shrugs in response. "That's something," she eventually says. "Do you reckon it's a message for us or something else entirely?"

"Could be both," Souma offers. "We wanted to check out Uzushio anyway, right? This way we check out the origins of the message and the village itself. We should get there in a few days."

"And maybe our luck will change," Sora says, even though she doesn't quite feel hopeful about such things. Still, she nods. "Let's do it."

* * *

**Day 37**

The darkness of the night shrouds him as he slips through shadows and around corners. A mask sits comfortably on his face, carefully created over the past few nights, with seals hidden on the back.

No one sees the person with the mask. No one even thinks to look for someone with a porcelain mask, made almost invisible with various layered seals. This is how the masked shinobi wants things to be. They are alone. For now. He has plans to change that.

Those plans begin with entering trapped rooms and safe spaces—but with warning, _(that is important)_. Those who open up windows and doors and tents to him, see his mask, _(it is his face in more ways than one)_, and incline their heads. He gives no orders, but presents them with an opportunity in careful instructions.

_(This is yours to decide, he says with no words. You will receive no backlash for your decision. There is power, yes, but there is silence too and both are wearisome. But you can hold these things in your heart and on your shoulders, and Uzushio will always be at your back.)_

A few will not take the opportunity. And he knew this from the beginning, when he looked at them and thought, _(and decided that he would ask because sometimes you need to hear the choice even if you were always going to say no)_. But most will accept, he knows.

He will find out soon. After all, the decision itself, whilst important, isn't the only thing that makes someone ANBU. Not only does the decision have to be made, but the candidates, _(they aren't ANBU until they've got masks)_, have to get to the meeting point he told them about.

As night trickles into dawn, he pauses on one of Uzushio's centre buildings and gazes out at his village. He can't see anyone moving, but if he could see them without looking for them, then they aren't ready for ANBU. He gives himself another minute to breathe, watching the sun start to rise, before he throws himself off the building.

The lone ANBU, _(the only ANBU left who could take up the position once again, but not the only Uzushio ANBU—not for long)_, travels to the ANBU headquarters that are situated below Uzushio.

While the sun sits above the horizon and shines down on Uzushio and the sea, a group of ninjas wait patiently and ahead of them, looking down, stands a single ANBU with a jackal mask.

_(In the end, he was Jakkaru in his past life and in his current life. It seems important, to retain the symbol, to retain one thing from one life. His first mask was different, more precise; his second had broader lines and more ridge; his final mask is one he has made himself. It is imperfect, made by inexperienced fingers, with long ears that were slightly different lengths, the thick red lines around the eyes were different widths. But it was his and Uzushio's. More importantly, the foundation seals were all standard ANBU ones and then he started adding his own. He knows he will add more in the future.)_

"Welcome to ANBU," he says, and the crowd instantly falls silent, _(watchful-silent, rather than danger-silent, and some of them—perhaps—excited-silent)_. "Once upon a time, you'd be placed on an ANBU team and they would show you the ropes and teach you all you needed to know." Jakkaru pauses, surveys the crowd, _(thinks about all the things he won't say, can't say, because they don't need to be said and there's no kindness in saying them; it'll only make his heart ache)_. "Things will be different to start off with. We'll be working on rotations until people settle into a team, and we'll be going back to the basics with a rulebook containing information and so on. "Not everyone will be starting together, simply because such a thing isn't logical. We'll work on a rotating roster until teams click together naturally for the most part. There will be a number of you who'll be picked to receive more information first and you will be responsible for ensuring that everyone else learns this information.

"We don't have a quartermaster at the moment, so you will be making your own masks with the name you will be granted shortly," he concludes. Behind his mask, he doesn't smile—but he doesn't frown either, _(he doesn't quite feel shattered or broken, despite knowing that the people he stands with now are not the people who once stood with him—they never will be, but he's starting to make peace with his ghosts)_. "Protect Uzushio with all you have and all you are. Uzushio will always be grateful in return." With nothing more to say, he leaps off and enters the crowd, mingling, although aiming for a few specific ninjas to talk to in more detail soon.

_(He has an idea who will form his second-in-command ANBU-wise, and he already has an idea for who might be a good teammate. But he doesn't know who else will form the rest of his squad.)_

_(There are two gaps at his back. He can't do anything about that.)_

* * *

**Day 40**

Dai is only one person. She is one of the few people who talk to Toru often, but she knows him as Jakkaru too, _(she may be the only one to know who Jakkaru actually is, because there are legends and whispers and conspiracies and theories, but there's no evidence which is what they all thrive off)_. However, they haven't known each other for long, haven't worked together. Outside of the fight with Orochimaru, they haven't had to rely on each other and trust wholly in each other.

She's stood next to him, offered her support and her friendship, but such things grow over time and can't be forced. She can't get him to stop, take a break, pause. She doesn't know him well enough for that. She can suggest things, but only when alone, _(even in Uzushio, you have to hide how tired you are—especially if you're Uzukage with a village full of refugees watching you and wondering and constantly fluctuating between desperate hope and dark grief)_. She watches and she wonders, and she aches, _(there are rumours that skate around in the shadows saying that Toru is their last Uzukage reborn; she doesn't know whether she agrees with it or not but she does know that he's full of grief like those who were forced to flee Uzushio as their village was invaded and massacred)_.

However, she wishes she could do more, be more. She wishes she could speed through time so that they were at the point it wouldn't be weird for her to step forward and offer her shoulder when unmasked and not hidden away behind a wall or beneath the cover of night.

Even if she can't do anything yet, she can stand by him, _(earn his trust)_, even when out of ANBU, _(which is somehow terrifying and inspiring at the same time; it makes her want to be more and try harder, and she lives for the training and the camaraderie and learning how to do everything; most of all, she loves watching as ANBU comes together under the words of their various leaders)_, she can be nearby. It's not too unusual and everyone's willing to accept that she's tentative friends with Toru, at the very least.

_(She's caught both Michi—Uzukage advisor and Toru's friend—and Shōta—medic-nin and Toru's friend as well—giving her pleased looks whenever she's around. She hasn't spoken with either of them much, especially as Michi always seems busy managing quite a bit of work and Shōta does his best to get his hospital department up and running. It means Toru also doesn't see them often, but they both clearly care for him—as their Uzukage, as their leader, as their friend. Still, they aren't close friends, something keeping them from blurring the line between friends and close friends. If Dai can blur that line and ensure that Toru actually relaxes, she has a feeling that everyone who cares for Toru will thank her.)_

_(Most of all, she'll be thankful to see Toru relaxed—that's enough of a reward by itself.)_

Dai shifts, suddenly, somehow knowing that something's changed, although she doesn't know what. There's something pinging in her head, urging her to take action yet she doesn't know what for. She turns her gaze to Toru and finds him standing, facing towards one of the docks. She can only see part of his face, but she can easily see raw emotion on his face—hope and joy, and she wonders why.

On the edges of her sensory range, chakra crests randomly then fades into the lull that spoke of little or no chakra use. Toru almost surges forward, tension in every line of his body.

"Toru?" Dai says, heart beating adrenaline-quick in her chest, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," Toru says, twisting to look at her and blinking rapidly. "Yes, I believe it is. I think- It's- Someone I know might've just arrived."

Dai's not a fantastic sensor—definitely not anything like Uzumaki or Nanami sensors, who are well known for their range and ability—but she can sense a genin's chakra pool or anyone with a bigger chakra pool. She's gotten used to Toru's chakra, _(campfire-crackling-gently; sea-waves-crashing-against-the-shore),_ resting in her range, shifting almost restlessly but somehow calm.

_(She could never quantify how everyone's chakra felt to her. They seemed to be beyond description that made logical sense to her mind. She could tell how much chakra someone had, could identify the difference between individuals, and—if she knew someone well enough—could get a rough idea of their emotions if it resonated enough with their chakra. Most of the time a person's chakra reminds her of specific sensations, but she's met other people who related chakra to specific smells or even certain colours.)_

Toru takes off, not quite sprinting but definitely moving faster than Dai had expected. She follows behind him, and wonders who Toru knows. Because whilst some of the groups of Uzushio refugees had known Toru, very few had clearly had multiple interactions beforehand—Dai can only think of Tomoe and her crew, _(it's not quite clear how they know each other or what Tomoe's position in Uzushio is, but it is obvious that they know each other well)_.

There are two ninjas disembarking from a ship. They both look like they could belong to Uzushio; one is clearly from the Abe Clan, _(soft-rain-against-skin; lull-between-wind-gusts)_, Dai reckons, but the other's an unknown, _(sun-warm-stones; fires-barely-contained)_.

However, it's Toru's chakra signature that grabs her attention. It flares, bright, campfire sparks and crackling, almost like something that will warm Dai's hands; not anything like the danger of sea waves as they grow and grow and threaten to slam into your back and over your head if you don't watch. It's something light and gentle and overwhelmingly happy. He seems better than Dai's ever seen him be before.

And Toru's laughing, throwing himself forward. The two ninjas meet him, arms slamming around each other, and-

They cover each others' backs, Dai notices. There's maybe one ANBU currently guarding Toru and Dai's technically standing-in even if she isn't under her mask. The ANBU twitched, but none of the three moved except to reaffirm their stances.

"Fuck, it's good to see you Toru," the Abe Clan member said. "But why are you here? You couldn't have left a better message?"

Toru pulls back slightly, chakra still gentle and warm and happy, but there's something uncertain to him now. Not that the uncertainty remains for long, because the Abe Clan member tugs Toru closer, soothing it away with gestures of comfort.

"I-" He pauses, swallows, searches for his words. "Konoha was your home," he said softly. "You didn't need me and I couldn't selfishly ask you to come. You're active ninjas. How are you even here?"

"You're an idiot," Sora says, even as she knocks their heads together lightly. "You're our home. Team, right? Konoha's nothing compared to you. We could've been at your sides from the beginning."

Blinking, Toru pulls back just enough so he can see both Sora and Souma's faces. "But why?" He asks, dazed. "There's no reason to. I'm just…"

"Someone once told me that 'if you do something, do it because you want to,'" Souma says, and the words are familiar, _(are Toru's from many years ago)_. "You don't get to dictate how we see you and how much you matter to us." He meets Toru's eyes, tightens his grip around the base of Toru's neck, just enough so that Toru can feel that he's there, that he's present. "This is our choice. Nothing we've done will backfire on you either. You and your—_our_—people are safe."

Sora squeezes Toru's shoulder. "And just because we don't need you doesn't mean we don't want you in our lives. Our decision, right?"

"Right," Toru says, voice almost a whisper. He squeezes his eyes shut, knows that tears will be clinging to his eyelashes. "Right." He breathes in, breathes out, senses the others do it as well.

_(His team is together once again and he can't be anything but overjoyed. He has his team at his back.)_

"Do you- Do you want to meet your clans?" He asks. "All of Uzushio's clans are here."

"We'd love to," Sora agrees, glancing at Souma. "But we came here for you. We're going to take care of ourselves first, everything else is secondary."

"Mission protocol," Souma adds with a nod. "Self-care is mandatory." Toru closes his eyes again, leans against his teammates, and lets himself laugh, _(lets himself remember old memories from Konoha fondly, without regret, without grief for those he left behind)_. "When did you last have a proper break? When did you last sleep?"

"A while. Last night for a few hours," Toru answers. He feels like he can take a break now, with his teammates to watch his back and everyone else to keep things running smoothly, _(he feels safe; like he can let his guard down entirely without worrying about the repercussions)_.

"You need to look after yourself," Souma says, presses his hand against Toru's skin, _(you're not alone, he says wordlessly)_.

Sora meets the eyes of the kunoichi standing a few paces away, half-watching them and half-not. She has a feeling that this is their new squad mate, but she doesn't think she minds. "We could all do with a good rest for a few hours," she says, leaning her shoulder against Toru's a little bit firmer, _(I'm here; we're here; we're together)_.

Stepping forward, Dai doesn't feel like an intruder. Neither of Toru's old teammates, _(and that's what they must be)_, seem to tense up or try to chase her off. She will have to prove herself to them—and they will have to earn her trust, but she has a feeling that things will end up well. "Uzukage-sama can definitely take a break," she agrees. "I can send a runner to let the proper people know," she continues, meeting Toru's gaze when he turns around to face her. "And, if you want, I've got first watch."

Toru breathes out evenly, smiles, and looks more relaxed than she's ever seen him. "That sounds good," he says, _(and it's a step closer to complete trust)_. He has Sora and Souma at his back and a new teammate looking out for him and willing to prove herself. His smile grows. "Actually, that sounds great."

* * *

**A month has passed and, at long last, Sora and Souma leave Konoha under the guise of a training mission, planning to look for Toru. Meanwhile, Toru finally learns that he has been selected to be Uzushio's current Uzukage as his old teammates scour Hi no Kuni in an attempt to locate him. Within Uzushio, the ANBU Corps begin to be reformed, with Jakkaru finding a potential teammate. Then, ten days after beginning their search, Sora and Souma arrive at Uzushio's shores surprised to find not only a village, but also their lost teammate. **


	19. Part 2: Anew

_**Reviews:**_

_**TigrezzTail - Tsunade probably would lean towards leniency. And I'm glad you enjoyed the Uzukage bit! Everyone thought it was obvious, except for Toru.**_

_**Wingi - Toru is! Have some more scenes here. And yes, there's a while until we reach Part 3, but it's coming. The jinchuriki arrived two chapters ago, I think? Before the last chapter, but I'm not certain. Cons of not remembering your own writing, I guess.**_

_**Dragons and Dragons - Someone has! And we'll get some more breaks because they all deserve it. Enjoy! **_

* * *

**Day 62**

The days seem to pass slowly and yet quickly. There's the Academy to get off the ground and have the hospital programs running smoothly. There's civilians and ninjas to think of, administrative areas for everything. Toru throws himself into the work, _(and he takes breaks and breathes)_, completing paperwork. But paperwork isn't all he does. The council system works extraordinarily well, which means there's considerably less work than past Uzukages had, _(even as Uzukage, he'd been so involved in the war efforts that he hadn't dealt with many of the other things Uzukages generally deal with)_.

He even gets to work with his ANBU team, on occasion, leading them off on patrol when the opportunity arises. It's nothing he ever really expected. The Uzukage title hasn't become lesser with his changes, but the power's become shared. It gives him more freedom, and he's grateful for it. It lets him act as ANBU Commander too, even though his position is only known amongst the higher-ups, _(an ANBU's identity is paramount; there's a reason why masks are swapped around for patrols, to hide who everyone really is)_.

"Toru, you're done for the day!" Dai calls out, waltzing into the office, and Toru smiles at her, shoulders relaxing from the action-ready tense they'd become. Neither Sora or Souma are on guard duty currently, but he's certain he has two ANBU performing bodyguard duty.

Shaking off such thoughts, _(avoiding plunging into that ANBU mindset)_, he glances out the window; sees blue skies and the sun still in view. "It's not even midday," he says, more intrigued than anything else, even as he gets up. It's not a protest and Dai knows that, he can tell, from the smile she slants his way.

"It's not," she agrees. "But I did hear that it was your birthday, and I think that should encourage you to take a half-day off."

Amused, Toru inclines his head and follows her out of the office, _(he doesn't say that being Uzukage isn't something you can stop, because they all know it)_. "I do take breaks, you know. In fact, I'm sure you know, since you're often joining all of us when I take them."

"It's a special occasion," Dai says, more for the banter than anything else. "Besides, you have nothing major to complete as Uzukage."

_(She does not say that the ANBU Corps have been organised completely and the divisions are running as smoothly as can be expected—smoother, in fact. To the point where ANBU Commander only deals with immediate concerns and major decisions, rather than day-to-day running. She does not say this because while Uzushio may be safe, she knows better than to say such things aloud when in public spaces.)_

Tomoe's slouching outside the building, her family scattered around her, _(her gang, Dai knows now, but now they are co-workers as well; still, Dai thinks that the group have always been family even if she doesn't know the intricacies of it, she knows enough)_. Stepping forward, Tomoe gains Toru's attention, _(and Dai doesn't wonder how Tomoe knew her plans, because they'd told Tomoe when the civilian had asked—because otherwise Tomoe would figure it out somehow and leave Dai itching to figure out the weak point where Tomoe got her information, and sometimes it's easier to avoid all the hassle)_.

"Happy birthday, Ryuu-sama," Tomoe says, inclining her head as she smiles at him.

_(In the past, birthdays had never been important to Tomoe. They hadn't meant anything, only in abstract that she was a year older. And that meant getting closer to the usual life expectancy on the streets, meant looking more like an adult than a kid, meant the few people who bothered to look at her turned away because she wasn't a kid anymore. Nowadays, birthdays usually mean happy wishes and 'presents', whatever those might be.)_

"Thank you," Toru says, _(and thinks how she still calls him Ryuu; there's a reason behind that, he's sure, and maybe it's important that he remains Ryuu—the person he told them they could be more and gave them the means to change their lives)_. In response, Tomoe presses a closed fist to his open palm, and hands him something cold and metallic. Looking down, Toru sees a key and swallows.

_(He knows that Tomoe and her family don't quite understand presents and gifts, don't quite differentiate between items that are necessary and gifting items that aren't needed to survive. It makes the gifts they give almost more meaningful. Tomoe hands a key to Toru and gifts him an entry to her house where she and her family live. She gives him the option to leave to somewhere safe he ever needs it.)_

Tilting her head as she steps back, Tomoe simply smiles as the others of her family, _(gang or family, it means the same thing now)_, gather around her and Toru, wishing him a happy birthday as well. They leave as a group, with one last statement about the gift.

"You deserve it."

Following Dai, Toru wonders where he's being led. He knows that Sora and Souma are in on it, knows that the three of them have some plan to celebrate his birthday. It's not like he's surprised by it either. Dai's grinning as they dart over rooftops, something certain and self-assured.

_(Toru feels steadier with his teammates, surer of his footing as he ventures into the unknown. He feels like he's walking down a cliff, but there's chakra attached to his feet and he's not falling and screaming.)_

The few other ninjas who see them greet Toru with nods, but they don't engage him in a conversation. He's not certain how many people know that it's his birthday. Toru certainly never planned to make a big thing of it. Uzukages in the past have had celebrations hosted for them, but Toru's never really been one to be in the spotlight—and he wouldn't want a celebration hosted solely for him either. After all, what makes him better than anyone else?

"We're here," Dai says as they enter one of Uzushio's training grounds. Toru looks around, taking in the terrain. The training ground is one of the simpler ones, flat ground with a few trees skirting the edges of the ground. It's made for flat-out fighting rather than working with the terrain. Sora and Souma are already there—with freshly cooked food from the smell.

"Happy birthday!" The trio chorus as Toru sits down, beaming at him.

"Help yourself to some food," Sora adds, handing out disposable plates. And so Toru does, laughing and joking with his friends, _(teammates, family)_. When the food is all finished, everything put away, they simply lounge together in a pile of tangled limbs.

Maybe half an hour has passed simply in silence. Toru feels full and warm and safe. It's easy to close his eyes and just _be_. The world's narrowed down to what's surrounding him, who's surrounding him.

His head rises and falls with Souma's breathing, and Souma is gently running fingers through his hair. Meanwhile, Sora's managed to somehow contort herself into an odd shape that lets her rest her head on Toru's legs whilst having her legs underneath Souma's. Dai's flopped so that her legs are thrown over Toru's chest and the back of her head's resting on her folded arms. She's close enough to Souma that she can twist his hair into various styles. Last Toru saw, she had woven leaves into his hair somehow.

He hovers in that space between wakefulness and sleep, dozing but not quite. It's easy here, and he loves it. Loves the warmth of his companions and teammates and friends and _family_. He loves that they're relaxing so easily too. There's no distractions here, nothing pressing that needs to be done. There's no danger. It's almost odd, having nothing to worry about, but it doesn't feel odd when he's with them.

"Hey, you with us?" Souma's voice is soft, but Toru cracks one eye open, shifting to look at Souma. "We've got some gifts to give."

"You don't have to-" He immediately goes to protest.

"We wanted to," Sora counters, moving so that she's sitting upright and pushing at Souma's legs so she can wriggle closer to everyone. "Besides, I think we've managed to get something you'd like."

Dai hums in agreement, and sits up, moving her legs so that Toru can get up to if he wants to. He considers it for a moment, debates whether he should just continue lying down, but he huffs and pushes himself upright. He doesn't get too far before Souma's moved, settling at his back and curling his arms around him. Toru relaxes into the hold, leans his head against Souma's shoulder and glances at Sora who's smiling gently at him.

"You're our friend," Sora begins, and the words feel almost practiced, _(they feel important, it feels like something's building in Toru's chest)_, "and our family. We've worked together for a few years now and encountered various challenges. You gave us a life to live in Konoha and taught Souma and I how to be people. And now you've led us to Uzushio and to Dai," she gives their newest teammate a smile, "and to a new family we never thought we'd get to experience. And we want to give you something that will always remind you of how important you are to us."

Bringing out a storage scroll, Sora unseals it. She holds out her hand and shows Toru a bead. It's a blue-green colour and reminds him of the sea, _(of Konoha and Uzushio)_. On one side, there's a small painted bird. "You've gave us freedom," Sora continues quietly, words shaky now. "You've given us so much and we love you so much. And so this, Toru, marks you as ally and friend and family, to me and to my clan as well. This is made for you and you alone."

Sora rubs tears from her eyes and meets Toru's watery gaze. "Would you give me the honour?"

Choked up as he is, all he can do is bow his head and let Sora weave the bead into his hair. Sora's fingers are gentle, tugging softly, and when she's done, she playfully on the brain. "Love you."

"Love you too," he says. And even before Souma moves, he knows what's going to happen. They haven't coordinated for a gift, but they're giving similar gifts. The same idea rests behind each one, _(we love you and we want you to know that)_.

"Sora's already covered a lot of my points," he starts with, chest rumbling behind Toru. "And you already know this is going to work out." He sniffs, then laughs. "Kami, you've already got me weepy. You're our friend and family Toru. We love you for who you are, as you are and as you've been and as you will be. No matter what, you won't lose us. We'll follow you to the ends of the world, even if you didn't ask. Especially if you didn't ask. You're never going to lose us as long as we have blood in our body. We're here to stay. Forever, as long as you'll let us. I'm extraordinarily proud of what you done and even prouder to be able to call you my brother."

Souma buries his head in Toru's shoulder, and Toru twists, so he can tug Souma into a proper hug, even if it sends an ache running down his back. When he pulls back, Souma's smiling at him and he doesn't think he's ever seen Souma smile this back. "You're amazing," he says and the simple praise, _the sincere praise_, makes Toru blush. "And I love you." Like Sora, he brings out a storage scroll and unseals a simple item.

It's a small bell, a dark metallic colour that barely gleams in the sunlight. Picking it up from Souma's palm, Toru runs his fingers over it, feeling the grooves. There are seals covering most of it, although Toru can't quite pick out their purpose though. He shakes it and it rings out a moment later. He places it back in Souma's hand and turns around. "Would you put it in please?"

"Of course," Souma says, and Toru wipes his eyes again, feeling tears trickle down his cheeks. He's going to have such puffy eyes after all of this. As Souma's fingers weave through his hair, Souma says, "If you channel chakra into it, it won't ring. But the chakra won't hold for more than twenty-four hours at a time, since that it's maximum capacity." He's silent for another few seconds, before he adds, "There. Done now."

Toru shakes his head, hears the ringing noise, and his heart pounds in his chest. He's so, so thankful for his teammates. He doesn't know where he would be without them.

"I suppose it's my turn now," Dai says, and Toru turns to face her. She's already got something hidden in her closed fist. "I can't say I've known you for anywhere near as long as Sora and Souma have. I know we're still relatively new to one another and that we're not overly close yet. But you've changed my life by letting me enter ANBU and be part of your life. You're an amazing person to know and I know we're both going to have a massive influence in each other's lives. This team has been amazing to be part of and the comradeship is…" She shakes her head, helpless and smiling with it. "I don't even have the words for it."

Swallowing, she continues, "In time, we'll get closer. I'm willing to place the time and effort into this, just like I know you all are as well," her gaze sweeps all three of them, directing her statement at each of them. "I know sometimes things will be tough, but I also know that there's nowhere else I would rather be that at your side. I… don't love you yet. We haven't known each other for long enough. But I think I will, in time." She pauses, considers her words, then adds, "So thank you, for letting me into your life and giving me a chance to be your friend and teammate and, perhaps in time, family."

Toru launches himself away from Souma, tackles Dai into a hug. She lets him, laughing against him. "You're a legend for who you are," she says quietly to him, "not just for what you do and what you've done. I hope you never forget that."

Stepping back, she opens her hand and shows the slightly lumpy black pearl on her palm. Etched onto it, in white, is the head of a wolf howling. "A reminder," she says, "of teamwork."

"And family," Toru says, rubbing yet more tears away from his face.

He turns, gives her his back, and she starts plaiting so that the pearl can join the other ornaments in his hair. "I don't have a clan to offer you," Dai says. "But I have myself."

"That will be enough," Toru says fiercely. "It will always be enough. It always has been."

_(And he knows deep in his bones—the message finally sinking in—that he is not replaceable for them. He means something and they will never leave him.)_

* * *

**Day 71**

Shōhei's side still stings faintly. He can't claim to be surprised. After all, he's gotten tattoos before and they always seem to sting, even if usually one can use an iryō ninjutsu to heal everything or—if nothing else—numb the pain. According to the seal tattooist, some seal-tattoos can't interact with chakra until twenty-four hours after it's been completed. There seemed to be a bunch of reasons for it, but Shōhei hadn't bothered asking.

"You ready?" Momoko asks. She doesn't appear to be showing any sign that her seal-tattoo is irritating her. Shōhei's only slightly jealous, but Momoko had had to receive the seal-tattoo first so that she could ensure she had a clear schedule to deal with the logistics of everything. He's thankful he doesn't have to deal with that.

Instead, as second-in-command, Shōhei had ensured that the other ninjas coming with them were prepared and—if they'd agreed to the seal-tattoo—received it. The seal-tattoo in question had been created only a few weeks earlier by their Uzukage. While it still didn't have a technical name, Shōhei and the others had started calling it the Whale Song Seal. It seemed to be catching on. Although its name didn't reveal much, the seal operated much like whale song—only certain people would know if it went off.

The seal was created to alert those in Uzushio if one of their people was in danger and, if they were in an unknown location, allowed the person to be tracked. There had been research into how to hide it undercover and keep it from being noticed, which had been successful. As a result, Shōhei now has a seal-tattoo on his left ribs that appears to be of a swallow.

"Yes," Shōhei says, suddenly remembering to answer Momoko. His mind's moving far too fast for him to keep concentrating on one thing. He doesn't fidget though, too well-trained for that. "And so's everyone else. You did ask us an hour ago. We're just waiting for the official send off."

Momoko rolls her eyes and nudges him with her foot. "Just stand stoically and receive the speech nicely," she says.

"Of course I will," he immediately protests. "Who do you take me for? Kazuko?"

"I heard that!" Kazuko yells from nearby and Shōhei—maturely—pulls a face at her.

Then, their Uzukage steps forward. Shōhei's only met him a few times in person, but both times he'd been overwhelmed by the Uzukage's youth and how ill-fitting it seems. "Thank you for doing this," Toru says, gaze seeming to meet every single ninja standing on the port, ready to go. "You are honouring not only Uzushio but Uzu no Kuni. The Daimyō is expecting you and looks forward to your time in the capital. His safety is now in your hands."

Momoko steps forward, speaking for all of them when she says, "We are honoured to be given this duty, Uzukage-sama." The ten of them bow to their Uzukage.

Toru's eyes crinkle in the corners as he smiles at them. "May silence haunt your footsteps and the earth shudder beneath your feet." He takes a step back. "Travel safely."

Shōhei grins and spins, darting out onto the ocean alongside the others who now make up the guard platoon for the Daimyō. It feels great to be racing the wind and the surf with his teammates by his side, and despite the high chance that there will be no action in the capital, he's excited too. It's the start of something new.

_(He serves Uzushio well by guarding their Daimyō. With the resources and support of Uzu no Kuni's Daimyō—who'd spent years working alongside another Daimyō who they had been related to somehow—Uzushio will be able to flourish and gain even more missions. Shōhei is grateful to have a role to play in all of this.)_

* * *

**Day 76**

Uzushio is odd and Kimimaro can't quite figure out why. It's not like Konohagakure which had been strange since its population seemed to be unaware of everything that went on in the shadows. The people of Uzushio know what darkness Uzushio holds, and the people are more like those in Otogakure than those in Konoha—fiercely cheerful to the point of naivety. Except the people of Uzushio seem to have more to their bones then tiredness and grief, there's this strange kind of hope that clings to them. They are a grieving people, lost and forgotten, but they are hopeful and seem to find happiness due to it.

The strangest bit, Kimimaro thinks, is how willing Uzushio's people are to share their knowledge. They keep their seals close to them, ensure that none of the Oto-nins learn any secrets or jutsus specific to Uzushio. Yet, they tell Karin of her clan, their history.

_(The Uzumaki Clan is one of the smallest clans to return to Uzushio, totalling at forty-six recorded members with Uzushio citizenship when everyone's paperwork has been completed. They gladly welcome Karin into their compound, into their homes, but they keep their secrets tucked away and offer what they can until they can trust her.)_

_(There is an alliance, Kimimaro knows, being written that ties Uzushio and Otogakure as allied villages and potentially will tie their countries together in the future. He doesn't know what Orochimaru-sama's plans are, but his actions so far seem rather straightforward.)_

And Jūgo has been told that he has a clan—a Uzushio one. And maybe they aren't any other members, but various citizens have stopped by to tell Jūgo tales of those they knew. The history still remained as well, held in books and scrolls, and Kimimaro had gone with Jūgo, _(and their hidden ANBU escort of course)_, to the Hayashi Clan Compound.

More importantly, Uzushio had offered Jūgo a solution to the issues that come with his kekkei genkai—without asking for anything in return. They hadn't explained how the seal worked, but they had explained how the seal was made to help control the natural energy that Jūgo adsorbed.

_(Kimimaro had also heard rumours that if the alliance went ahead, Jūgo would receive training on other techniques his clan had to control the natural energy.)_

Kimimaro also learnt of his own clan—the Kaguya. He's not sure how to feel about them. Because they had left him behind when they'd attacked Kirigakure, _(and he understands now why they attacked Kirigakure, when they lost themselves to their rage and battle-thirst that they would turn on the village that massacred their own)_. Apparently, it's not unheard of that a Kaguya every few generations would have the battle-thirst and savageness skip over them. Something to do with a recessive gene and chemicals? Kimimaro will admit that the technical explanation skipped over him. Still, he explored the books and scrolls that Uzushio allowed him to have from his clan, checked out the compound.

"You alright?" Jūgo asks, returning to his side after talking with a nearby Uzushio shinobi.

Rolling his eyes, Kimimaro traps Jūgo in a headlock. "You don't need to fuss over me," he says, messing up Jūgo's hair just to prove that he definitely isn't weak. "The medics cleared me."

Jūgo taps his arm and Kimimaro releases him. "I know that," he says, but there's fear still hidden in the corners of his eyes. And Kimimaro knows that that's his fault. If he hadn't ignored his symptoms, if he hadn't avoided medical care, it wouldn't have led to him collapsing on Jūgo in a foreign village.

_(Honestly, he's surprised he's not dead.)_

But he's alright now. Against all the odds. And it's thanks to the Uzushio medic-nins and knowledge of the Kaguya Clan, _(and he has a feeling that even Orochimaru-sama and Kabuto-san wouldn't have been able to save him)_.

Kimimaro rolls his shoulder, trying to ease the build-up of tension, and nudges Jūgo. "C'mon, let's go check out that restaurant you keep telling me about." It won't make up for what he's put Jūgo through, but it's all he can do.

* * *

**Day 81**

Toru leads Orochimaru through the whirlpools, skating across the ocean with all the grace of an Uzushio shinobi. Orochimaru follows him, running on the water, _(and a stray thought of Toru's considers the differences that come from being taught in different villages; how he can skate across the water and how Orochimaru runs, and he wonders which is better; which he prefers)_. The three Oto-nins—Karin, Jūgo, and Kimimaro—have already gone ahead to return to Otogakure, leaving the day before, _(leaving Orochimaru without guards and is that hubris or a mistake, Toru wonders)_. Apparently they had other jobs to do, which made Toru slightly uneasy.

The Orochimaru Toru has been dealing with over the past few weeks to create their treaty is different from the Orochimaru Toru had initially met. That Orochimaru had been a creature known through rumours and legends, something mysterious and chaotic.

Now Toru has a better understanding of Orochimaru. And maybe Orochimaru had started talking to him because as a prodigy and a genius, he knew that talking to someone would probably lead to a quicker escape. But Toru doesn't think that's why Orochimaru remained willing to talk with him—and with others—even when they didn't change their stance.

_(From old files and long-forgotten missions, Toru knew that Orochimaru had been a pawn of Danzō and ROOT and Konoha's Sandaime. He's not sure how to feel about that.)_

Whilst Toru wouldn't classify Orochimaru as 'good' or even 'humane', he's finally figured out why there's something about Orochimaru that had struck him as strange. And it's because Orochimaru finds people and helps them, even if his methods leave a lot to be desired. Still, such methods make sense when Toru considers the fact that Orochimaru grew up in a war and was fast tracked as a child soldier—and what he did under orders.

Orochimaru's team had broken apart and Orochimaru had fractured beneath it all, yet refused to die and leave everything behind, refused to make bonds. Yet he has. He has made bonds. After all, his village is _his_ and so are its people, and Orochimaru, _(is the same as Toru)_, is the kind of person who would burn the world to protect it. And he seems to have recognised this while in Uzushio. _That's_ when Orochimaru had started fighting for a treaty that didn't just benefit his position and his village, but also his people.

That doesn't mean Toru trusts Orochimaru yet or that he plans to anytime soon. He still launched an attack on Konoha and there's a chance he holds his desire to see his parents, _(reborn or reanimated, Toru's no longer sure because Orochimaru certainly knows how to do the latter)_.

They reach Hi no Kuni's shore in silence, _(Toru's back itches, some high unreachable place; he feels uncomfortable)_. "It was good meeting you," Toru offers, meeting Orochimaru's gaze evenly. "Hopefully you didn't mind your stay in in Uzushio too much."

A flash of something in Orochimaru's eyes—humour, perhaps, or even just the dislike at remembering that his stay in Uzushio hadn't necessarily been his choice. Toru swallows as his instincts continue to warn him of danger. What danger, though, he doesn't know. "I don't think it would count as a stay," Orochimaru says mildly, _(like having a mild tone makes his words less dangerous; Toru knows better than that)_.

The words themselves are challenging. The tone is not, but Toru flexes his fingers and flares his chakra to ensure that no genjutsu falls over him.

Around him, the world gains cracks and Toru feels the chakra around him break. He moves, eyes wide as he takes in what's happening and tries to determine how it all happened. In front of him, Orochimaru is grinning, chakra thick and heavy and dark, blade in hand. There are a bunch of missing-nin as well. Three that Toru recognises immediately—S-ranked ninjas from an updated Hi no Kuni Bingo Book that Uzushio had got their hands on.

The conclusion that's easy to make is that Orochimaru has set him up somehow—Toru doesn't necessarily want to believe it, but the evidence supports the conclusion.

"I don't let people get away with holding me captive," Orochimaru says, voice dark and oozing killing-intent. "Especially those who label themselves as Kages."

Toru bares his teeth and grins with it. If Orochimaru thinks he'll be broken up about it, then the other shinobi clearly forgot to factor in that Toru would've expected such a thing. Maybe not the missing-nins as well, but that doesn't mean Toru will lose here.

_(The only downside is that Toru fights alone here. His ANBU team remains back in Uzushio and the Uzu no Kuni patrols don't come this far out—have no reason to. None of them will sense his distress either. He hasn't received the Whale Song seal either due to time constraints and the fact he hadn't yet been out of the village for a long period of time where the seal might be useful. He regrets that decision now.)_

With chakra coiling in his veins, Toru launches himself forward, charges straight and then slips away at the last minute, lashing out with his katana that strikes deep and true. He twists the blade and rips it out, leaving a jagged gash that will kill in a few minutes. Then, he kicks out, shoving the injured ninja away from him.

Spinning, he faces a trio of approaching ninjas, Orochimaru not amongst them thankfully. He rushes through a set of hand seals around the hilt of his katana, his chakra rises readily and eagerly answers his call. "Combination Attack: Fire Hurricane," he says before spitting out a fireball. The hurricane tears into one shinobi who screams as the fire rages hot and burns.

The other two are then on him, giving him no time to run through more hand seals for ninjutsu. That's alright though because while Toru often goes for ninjutsu, he is an Uzushio ninja through and through. So he ducks under a punch, lashes out with a swift arm, slams his hand against a thigh with a quick, "Fūin!" and leaves them paralysed. To deal with the next ninja, he gives them a seal dealing with torture and pain; leaves them screaming.

A spare second to grab a breath. Fire rushing towards him, buffeted by wind; Orochimaru's chakra thick and heavy and dangerous somewhere to the left of him. Two ninjas on his right. One ahead. Unknown number of others around him.

The fire is adsorbed into the seal on his hand; the wind ducked. Sideways, he beheads a kunoichi on his right. Steps into the path of a kunai from the second ninja, deflects it with his katana, stabs her. Another ninjutsu comes at him and he's forced to abandon his katana as he handsprings backward to avoid it.

The ninjutsu user is proving to be the most dangerous so Toru lashes out with a high kick at someone approaching, then slams his hands onto the ground and floods the area around him with water that forcefully upsets everyone's balance. With the time he's been given, he rushes through hand seals before calling, "Water Release: Water Dragon Technique!"

The massive water dragon slams into the ninjutsu user, who Toru can see gasping and shaking as the water continues to cascade down onto them. Meanwhile, Toru calls up a water clone, lets it go after the injured kunoichi while he targets the ninjutsu user. With chakra strengthening his legs, Toru swiftly decreases the distance between him and the ninjutsu user.

The ninjutsu user starts going through a set of hand seals just as Toru reaches them, so Toru lashes out with a kunai. He doesn't quite manage any major damage, but a thin scratch on the other ninja's wrist—the reason why they stop the jutsu before completing it. And that gives Toru enough time to speed through his own set of hand seals. "Blade of Wind!" He says, concentrating on his fingertips, before lashing out. The wind blades cut deeply, and Toru knows that's another enemy down.

"What are you doing you buffoons?!" Orochimaru's words cut through Toru's focus. Thankfully, he has no enemies to fight in that moment so he can take a moment to look around and take in what's happening. "You were meant to be going after the Uchiha!"

_(And isn't it curious that Orochimaru had the chance to spread information of Uzushio's return, of the Uzukage, but did not.)_

An S-ranked kunoichi, Kanna Seki _(well known for using genjutsu and kenjutsu simultaneously)_, faces Orochimaru; four ninjas flanking her. "He's not the one with the larger bounty here," she says back, laughing at Orochimaru's outraged expression.

For a moment, all Orochimaru feels is rage. Then that rage is negated by cool consideration. _He_ was the one who made the mistake here; miscalculated human greed and didn't vet these people himself. That's on him. He probably should've seen this coming and planned for it—he's the one known here, not Toru.

Looking around, he can now see more ninjas then he'd hired—ones Kanna has clearly gone ahead and found in advance. There's enough of them that they may succeed in overwhelming him, unless he brings in Manda. But he's hesitant to do that since one of the ninjas at Kanna's side is known to have large summons and he doesn't particularly wish to escalate the fight to such a point.

Toru is still there, paused, even when he isn't the one the missing-nins are planning to attack. But Orochimaru can see the blood splattered on his clothing and knows that the missing-nins aren't likely to let the Uchiha go. Especially if they do believe him that the younger shinobi is an Uchiha, _(Uchihas had once gone for a lot on the black market, and with only a few remaining the price has likely gone up)_.

Orochimaru meets Toru's gaze. He doesn't know enough about the other's strength to predicate whether the other shinobi will be helpful or not, but Toru is a Kage and surely there's a reason for that. So he tilts his head in question, and Toru nods.

They don't give their opponents a second to think, Orochimaru launches forward. His chakra flares, heavy and dark, and he focusses it pin-point sharp with killing intent. Chops the head off the one ninja who freezes. A combination of flames and wind take down two more enemies, but one manages to get up again; explosion seals primed. He takes to the ground instead, burying deep. There's a muffled boom above, chakra flaring and fluctuating, and then Orochimaru rises out of the ground after dragging one ninja deep below and leaving them without their arms.

He ends up next to Toru, who fights and laughs and disappears as a clone of cockroaches. Against the odds—and Orochimaru's expectations—he keeps up, _(and doesn't flinch no matter what Orochimaru does)_.

It's a moment of bad luck that leaves him injured. The ground is soft beneath his feet, thick with mud, and a shinobi manages to force Orochimaru into an odd position that leaves him slipping in the mud, twisting awkwardly to prevent a fall. Then Kanna is there, blade aiming right for his heart. He almost sidesteps completely, but doesn't quite avoid the blow; instead taking it deep in his shoulder. He can feel it immediately, a pain deep in his shoulder; and Kanna's blade has an odd sheen—poison.

Kanna seems amused with her win, smiling at him, just as Orochimaru takes off her head. She got close and faced the consequences as a result. He pushes himself off the ground, trying to avoid jostling his injured shoulder. But there are no other opponents. They all seem down—dead or dying or grievously injured. Orochimaru doesn't care and, it seems, neither does Toru.

Which shouldn't be surprising, but somehow is. Orochimaru knows that Toru doesn't care if he kills someone or not, but he's from Konoha and Uzushio all seems far too hopeful to actively acknowledge the darker side of things, _(but they do, Orochimaru knows, they aren't like Konoha at all in that manner)_.

Toru's still grinning, that fierce grin that comes from winning a hard battle, that comes from succeeding where your opponent fails. Orochimaru wants to test himself against that grin—against Toru's survival, wants to throw himself to his instincts and see what might come from it all. There's nothing stopping him either. He's injured, yes, but so Toru—blood dripping into one eye and something causing him to limp.

Baring his teeth, Orochimaru launches himself forward, snarling. Toru fucking meets him. Doesn't quite stop his raw strength, but deflects it. Toru stands still, remains in the force of his strength, and then shifts. Light-footed and fleet, whilst injured, he slips around blows and tries to attack in return.

Orochimaru has the advantage, though. His strength overpowers Toru. And although Toru is faster, the attacks he lands are weak—accurate, but still lacking power to injure. Yet Toru whirls away from a kick that leaves a crater, slips around a punch fuelled by chakra. There are a few attacks that Orochimaru is forced to avoid, rather than deflect or outright block—ones that would break bones in dangerous places.

They don't go for ninjutsu attacks and there are moments where Orochimaru could press the advantage, press the weakness, press against it until it fractured and left Toru open and bleeding in front of him. But he doesn't. He's not sure why.

_(He knows why.)_

And Toru does the same, Orochimaru is certain of it. After all, the Uzukage does not use fūinjutsu, doesn't use his summons, and maybe Orochimaru doesn't know a lot about Toru's abilities—but he knows they are based in fūinjutsu for the most part.

Slowly, as sun beats heavily down on them, he realises that this isn't a fight at all. He's not trying to kill Toru nor even injure him really. It's a test of strength, rather than the death-fuelled fight it could have been, _(had been, days and weeks and months back)_.

There's a moment where Toru slips, injured leg weak and the mud beneath deadly. Orochimaru pauses at the last moment, a death-strike held back by a single thought. Intent, _(it matters)_.

Toru is half-kneeling, head _not_ bowed, still grinning, _(ready for betrayal but living with it easily)_. There's something dangerous there. The kind of danger that calls to Orochimaru, _(child of shadows and poison and the sharpness of a knife)_. They're both panting, fatigued from their battle with one another and the missing-nins.

Orochimaru has the feeling that this is not a defeat. Not a win. He doesn't think it's a loss either. Ever so slowly, he draws back, steels his body; forces his limbs not to tremble. Toru stands, weight resting heavily on one foot, and still meets his gaze evenly.

_(Despite everything.)_

_(In spite of everything.)_

This is not someone who will readily betray him. This is not someone who will hand him over to Konoha.

_(This is not someone who fully understands him, but somehow gets the parts of him that very few others have grasped.)_

"Uzukage," Orochimaru says at last, tilting his head, _(he will not bow to anyone ever again)_.

Toru's eyes crinkle in the corners and he rubs the blood away from his left eye, smearing it across his face. It doesn't make much difference to the blood already splattered there. "Otokage," he returns steadily, tilting his own head in response.

He gathers himself, considers his words, considers this decision, _(maybe he care dare to try again)_. "Otogakure looks forward to their lasting alliance with Uzushiogakure."

Without bothering to wait for Toru's response, he wheels around and heads off at a steady lope. Still injured, but no longer bleeding, he goes. He goes with an alliance sealed away and a village ahead waiting for him.

He goes.

And as he returns to his village, he considers the Uzukage. There's something interesting about him and his return to life; his claim to be reborn by Uzushio and the way he helps and the way he cares, _(and the way he fights beside Orochimaru without flinching)_. Orochimaru's not quite sure what to make of it. He doesn't think he minds.

* * *

**Days come and go, with them so does Toru's birthday. As time continues to pass, Uzushio continues to regain her strength—and a new treaty.**

* * *

_**For those wondering, I'm over on Tumblr as silent-silver-slip and do have some posts on there about this series under 'The Sea Never Dies' as a tag. There's also a shiny new Discord server (or it's currently shiny and new, it'll be a while until I post this I know) that you can join if you so wish. PM me or drop a review and ask about it, and I'll message you about it. **_

_**Toru's birthday is full of good feels. I loved writing it! Although the logistics of a cuddle pile did threaten me with trouble.**_

_**'there's a reason why [ANBU] masks are swapped around for patrols' - I didn't quite get to say much on this, so I'm gonna expand quickly. By this, I meant that ANBU occasionally swap their masks when on in-village patrol only, which is to ensure that no one really puts together who the person behind the mask is.**_

_**Tomoe isn't a major character, but she's a major figure that we see and she's got a powerful position. However, I think it says a lot about her that she gives Toru an exit strategy to somewhere safe for if he ever needs it. This is not her doubting his safety or thinking that those he lives with are dangerous to him - but it's her providing him with a safehouse if he does have to get out. Better safe than sorry after all.**_

_**I fucking love the softness we're getting here. I just... They just touch base with another so easily? And Toru just feels so safe? I fucking adore it so much. I really hope you guys did as well!**_

_**If you were wondering, Sora absolutely practised that speech a few times. She had to get it right (and without crying too badly) and make sure she got her point across (the point being how much they love Toru of course).**_

_**Do I love how Dai admits to not loving Toru quite yet? Yes! I think it's important to mention she hasn't known Toru for very long. She hasn't worked with him for very long and they certainly haven't been in any really dangerous battles where they're stuck in a life or death position, except for that one battle with Orochimaru. There's not enough there just yet. But soon! I say.**_

_**It's so important for Toru to hear that reminder that he's amazing because of who he is rather than what he's managed to do. And god, it's so good to know that Toru finally figures out he is worth something to them. There's no mention of Sasuke, which is partially an oversight on my behalf, but also because his team refuses to let himself fall into such thoughts. He probably thinks of it as he's falling asleep though, and grieves as he does so.**_

_**Shōhei came about because I had a bunch of notes but couldn't be bothered writing everything all out lol. I've not got much to say for this, so if you want to know more, feel free to drop a question about it.**_

_**For Kimimaro's part I said fuck canon with him being chained up and no one else in his clan having the kekkei genkai. I also delayed his sickness by a bit. I don't even know why I focussed on him to be honest. I just really like Kimimaro's quiet characterisation? There's something admirable about him. I'm not sure what it is or why I feel that way.**_

_**Okay, Orochimaru! A lot, and I mean a lot, of his character development occurs off-stage (off-scene?). And that's because he pretty much goes through therapy and realises somethings about himself that he's been denying for a while. And I'm not equipped to write that properly. I'm starting to run out of characters now, so we're gonna shorten this bit by a bit. The important thing here is that Oro isn't "fixed" or "healed", even ignoring the implications of such things in the first place in regards to how he was therefore somehow broken. Yes, Oro had some therapy sessions, but this wouldn't change anything and things would require longer. Instead, it's like Toru says, he starts understanding Orochimaru better, and Orochimaru learns more about himself as well.**_

_**Because Orochimaru has been finding people and helping that, even if it was for his own gain (I think I touch on it briefly back with Dosu, but I'm not certain it's been ages since I wrote that scene). Not to mention, Oro grew up in the war and was a child soldier, and I'm headcanoning that he was ordered by Danzo and part of ROOT with some of the experimentations he completed (and where do you draw the line? When your morals come from war and from people who left you and abandoned you?). Orochimaru is not a good person. Far from it. He never will be. But he's a ninja and dangerous and could be an ally. Becomes an ally, (and part of that's because Toru is powerful, but a larger part of that is because Toru fights and laughs and disappears as a clone of cockroaches and keeps up with Orochimaru and doesn't flinch). THe last scene with them, their one on one battle, didn't get as long as I wanted it to be because it fought me, but it becomes a test of their strength rather than something fuelled to be a fight for the death. And Orochimaru considers trying (considers reaching out). And that's the major point where he kinda changes. He's already partially abandoned his search for immortality and his parents - it kinda sets things into perspective when Toru was reincarnated.**_


	20. Part 2: Wartime

**_Review Responses:_**

**_Wingi - I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! The birthday scene was a lot of fun to write and I enjoyed the team feels there. The Kimimaro and Jugo scene was fun! I'm slightly sad I didn't get to focus more on them, but not toooooo sad. I'm glad you found the Oro chapter interesting! It was tricky to figure out but came out pretty well, in my opinion. And yeah, I spotted that typo when I was going through the chapter on Ao3, and then didn't fix it on here lol. It should be braid! Hope you enjoy this chapter too! _**

**_LadyMidnightBat - I'm glad Oro was less bad than you expected! He's been an interesting character to write, to see the least. AND YES! I love the found family and it makes me so glad to write them. Watch me write all these random scenes post-canon for all the love for this team. They deserve the best. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll write much of Sora and Souma interacting with their clans within the book? Hmm, I'll scan through my notes or otherwise I might write up some short scenes and post it on Tumblr or something._**

**_Dragons and Dragons - Orochimaru was fun to write there, he's definitely an interesting character and I had fun exploring that a little bit in this fic. Will he be reappearing? Who knows! I'd have to actually (know) read my plot notes for that, and I haven't looked at them for a while. I have a feeling he might appear. Briefly._**

**_TigrezzTail - Orochimaru would hate to be considered predictable. So, clearly, as you expected his betrayal he had to do something strange. I'm glad you enjoyed the birthday sentiments as well! They're definitely some of my favourite things I've written for the team. _**

* * *

**Day 90**

There is position, Tomoe knows, that gifts her a name for what she does. They call her spy master, information gatherer.

_(Behind her back, they question her position. They question who she is. She is not a ninja; she is a civilian. She has no education to her name, only learnt to read in the past few years. Her writing is awful and she takes too long to make sure its legible. She is fifteen. To civilians, she is a child. To ninjas, she is a civilian and weak because of it.) _

_(Behind her back, they ask who the fuck she is. They probably wonder how she got her position. Why she has power they don't. There is not strength in her muscles. She has not attended school of any sort. She has no manners.) _

Ryuu only ever calls her Tomoe.

_(No one will question her to her face because Ryuu is the one who trusts her and chose her. He is the one who gave her this position. They may wonder why and they may doubt her, but they will not question her to her face.)_

It's her position that lets her into the office of the Uzukage, _(and he has always been leading her and her people, so he will always be their leader as Ryuu before the title Uzukage was granted to him)_, but her position doesn't explain why Ryuu relaxes easily in her presence. That's something that has happened over time.

_(It is a heady thing, to be trusted by one such as Ryuu.)_

"Tomoe," Ryuu says, smiling in greeting. The smile quickly drops as he somehow figures out that she comes bearing bad news. "What is it?"

"We've heard some stuff from Mizu no Kuni that's not painting the prettiest picture," Tomoe says, _(and she remembers learning of Ishigakure and the massacres that followed the civilians' rebellion)_. "Intelligence suggests that Mizu no Kuni borders have been closed completely and there are ninjas ensuring that no one gets in—or out. A few of our people have gotten through the borders, but from the sounds of it there might be a civil war hatching over there."

Ryuu breathes out slowly, eyes narrowing, _(in thought, in worry, in fear)_. "How many of our people are over there and likely to be in trouble?"

She shrugs. "There's no real way we can tell. I can give ya a list of names of those rumoured to be there or last based in there, but we won't know if they get out until they touch base with us elsewhere. And…" She pauses, considers it. "I don't think many of them will get involved," she says slowly, "'cause it sounds like it's a civil war amongst the ninjas, but civilians are gettin' caught up in it and that's the dangerous bit there. I know a few people who'd be willin' to head into Mizu no Kuni and tell our people to get out if you really want."

"There's been quite a bit of expectation that Kirigakure's tension would boil over into a civil war," Ryuu remarks quietly. "You've heard what Kirigakure's been like in the past few years for both civilians and ninjas. I think…" He sighs. "Thank you for bringing this to me, Tomoe. If you get anymore information, let me know. For now, I think I've got some meetings I need to organise."

Tomoe nods, then bows, _(there is only one person she will ever bow to)_. "You know where to find me," she agrees, before leaving.

Meanwhile, Toru considers his options. Kirigakure's war is bound to be bloody, and most people would warn against going anywhere near Mizu no Kuni considering everything that's going to go down. But… Mizu no Kuni borders Uzu no Kuni. Kirigakure had been their ally, once upon a time, _(before Danzō came and they were manipulated against each other)_. And it's better to have allies at their borders rather than enemies.

For the most part, the past few months have been mainly focussed on getting Uzushio and Uzu no Kuni up and running, with little attention paid to those on their borders. But now it was another story, since the village is no longer in such dire straits. People, especially those who'd fled Uzushio, are wondering if they can trust Hi no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni. He can only do so much to assuage their worries when he has no proof.

"Ibisu," he calls out. The ANBU appears in front of him. "Can you ask Tomoe to compile information on the warring factions for Mizu no Kuni and potential leaders for Kirigakure?" The ANBU disappears in a blur of speed and Toru considers what other things he'll have to do. Call a full council meeting, but that can happen once he's got the information and looked through it himself.

_(As always, there's something in him that wants to run, fling himself out onto the ocean and race the wind. He wants to hand himself over to his instincts and test his skills against an enemy. He can spar, still does, and trains with his ANBU team and anyone else who wants to. But you always have to hold something in reserve because you don't want to kill your sparring partner.)_

More importantly, he has to figure out what he wants Uzushio's course of action to be, _(because his actions are Uzushio's actions, and he can't just act for himself even if he wants to)_.

* * *

**Day 95**

After Uzushio, it feels like things should have changed. And things do change, Kimimaro knows. He's noticed it—but Oto is still the same as it has always been. It feels like the foundations should have changed, but they haven't. And yet-

Yet their Kage is subtly different. It's not obvious but Kimimaro knows what to look for, _(and he sees how Orochimaru chooses one action where he might've taken a different route previously; but the most important difference he is less brusque with them, not gentler but more willing to listen to them; he reminds Kimimaro of what an ideal teacher might be—if they were a ninja with all the blood that comes with it)_, and so he sees it. There's also a slight change to their standard uniform, the Uzushio symbol resting on their weapon pouches. A reminder of their first true ally. But, other than that, almost everything is the same.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Jūgo asks, empty handed and looking more comfortable in his skin than Kimimaro has ever seen before, _(and he will always be thankful for what Uzushio has done, but his loyalty will always be to Orochimaru first and foremost)_.

Kimimaro hikes the pack on his back higher so its sits better against his shoulders. "Yes," he replies, and he feels certain; sure of his decision. He's one of the best to go too, with the ability to get himself out safely, while having a connection to Uzushio too. There's also the fact that no one's certain whether he'll be fine in a year's time or whether the treatment that saved his life might fail.

Kimimaro's a ninja, so he's made his peace with dying. He's always known he will die, even if he thought it would be sooner rather than later. But now he's been given the opportunity to live for longer than he expected, and he finds himself wanting to take it. For his friends, but for himself too.

_(He's not sure how to think about that.)_

"I'll miss you," Jūgo says softly and Kimimaro traps the taller ninja in a hug, rather than a headlock and he can tell Jūgo is surprised by it.

"I'll miss you too," he says after finally stepping back. He meets Jūgo's eyes and feels at ease. He has a feeling that everything—everyone—will be just fine. "Keep in touch, yeah?"

Jūgo grins. His eyes might be wet, but it could just be due to the sun glaring down at them. "You too," he orders.

Kimimaro gives a half-salute and takes off. He doesn't look back. There's no reason to, after all. Nothing's changed and he'll see both Jūgo and Oto again.

_(He'll miss Jūgo, of course, but their friendship will weather the distance. It always has.)_

* * *

**Day 97**

Toru surveys the group of people in the room with him. The entirety of the Uzukage Council is here, despite the fact that many of them aren't required to be there. However, with such an important decision, it makes sense that everyone's here. They've been arguing about it for almost a week now and have outlined the pros and cons fairly well, but haven't come to a conclusion.

Technically, Toru can overrule everyone and make a final decision—but that's not how he wants this to work. He may lead the village, but the village isn't just him. Still, they aren't getting anywhere like this. Already, Toru has an argument that's been brewing in the back of his head for a while.

"Okay," he says, voice just the right tone to catch everyone's attention when someone else finishes speaking. "It seems like the main worry here is that we don't know what Kirigakure's actions will be if we help them win. The other fears seem to be what 'side' to support, and then what happens if the ninjas we send in die. Correct?"

Various members nod. "The two sides, so far as we know, are the resistance and Kirigakure itself. Kirigakure is led by Yagura Karatachi, rumoured to be a jinchūriki. He's been Mizukage for a while now and has had a heavy hand in giving Kirigakure the name 'Bloody Mist' and has led, and perpetrated, the genocide of many kekkei genkai users and the following persecution. And then there's Mei Terumī who has two kekkei genkai and seems to be wanting to reverse the bloody nature of Kirigakure's society," Toru says, summarising the information they have so far. "If we were to do anything, we'd be supporting Terumī, although her primary base seems to be unknown at the moment." He pauses, considers everyone.

"My personal fear is that if we leave Mizu no Kuni to their civil war and Yagura wins is that we will, not only have to deal with an influx of refugees, but that Yagura will turn on us too, especially with the antagonistic past between our villages." Surveying the serious faces around him, he continues, "If we help Terumī and she wins, then she owes us a debt and it'll go a long way in resolving our conflict. It might even lead to an alliance, if not a treaty—things we need even with Oto at our backs."

He lets them sit on that for a bit, settles back, and waits for someone to speak. With a heavy sigh, Michi starts speaking. "I don't want to send aid to Mizu no Kuni and throw our support in behind Terumī. My chief worry is that if Terumī fails or we're found out, there's a high chance we'll be placed in a fighting position as a result."

"However," Akira Chiba rebuts, Chūnin Corps leader, "we can easily hide any sign of Uzushio identification, which will be easier considering that Uzushio doesn't necessarily exist to the outside world. We wouldn't be able to send in much support, perhaps an ANBU team or two. They'd likely be enough to make some difference."

And Toru knows that his ANBU teams are good. But… very few of them are legends and will be able to a major difference, _(they are not teams that could hold up a fleet of ships—not yet, at least)_. But… He could maybe create one team that might able to do something. The only other team he'd be happy sending into Mizu no Kuni is his own team. He trusts them to survive.

Hachirō Nanami folds his arms and sighs. "The fleet might be able to help from a distance, but they won't go too far into Mizu no Kuni's waters. Not navigating through the islands, at least, unless we have a strong foothold. That's too dangerous."

"No one would expect them too," Umeko Uzumaki agrees. "I'm in favour of sending a maximum of two small teams who are likely to survive to Mizu no Kuni. However, if things get too dangerous, they pull back to Uzushio or activate seals for retrieval. And they have regular check-ins, returning to Uzushio for such a thing."

Atsuko Asano leans forward, resting her elbows on the long table. "We've debated this enough," she says. "We have all the information and we have the beginning of a plan. Uzukage-sama, you should call for a vote for whether we agree to help or not."

"Very well," Toru answers. "A positive vote means that we'll help Mizu no Kuni, voting no means we will not. This is a majority wins vote." He nods at Michi, who begins the vote.

The concluding consensus finds a majority voting for supporting Mizu no Kuni's rebellion. The challenging part will be convincing them to let Toru's ANBU team off into Mizu no Kuni, _(with him, of course; his ANBU team will go nowhere without him—not ever again)_. But most of them won't deny the facts—even if Toru is the Uzukage, and technically shouldn't be out on the frontlines of a fight that the rest of Uzushio won't be fighting in.

"What teams would you recommend?" Megumi Takumi asks, frowning. "You're going to need someone with some medical expertise and some very well-stocked med-kits. We're not sure what supplies Mizu no Kuni will have nor what they'll be willing to give to our teams."

Toru doesn't shift, even if he wants to. "There's at least one four-person squad that will likely survive with all members intact. Otherwise, I'd have to form a war squad, which will leave us understaffed."

"And the four-man squad?" Someone asks, _(and already there's that note of trepidation in their voice)_.

Fiercely proud of them, but also very much self-conscious, Toru says, "Mine." The atmosphere becomes somewhat tense, because it doesn't need to be said—Uzushio cannot be understaffed, especially not in ANBU.

Michi says it. "We cannot have ANBU understaffed," she says. "Personally, I do not want to send our Uzukage into Mizu no Kuni. However, we are currently in a stable position and we do not necessarily need our Uzukage to run things. And, in the event Temurī does win, Uzukage-sama is then in a position that he knows the person and can create an alliance with the proper authority."

Someone else sighs and Hoshiko Hagoromo crosses her arms. "Then we will do what we must and send in Jakkaru's ANBU team. We will have to claim that Uzukage-sama went on a mission."

"Something to do with Kakumau," Toru offers, seeing the easy answer. "Other than Tomoe, I'm the only person in a somewhat important position who has ties to the group." He pauses, waits to see if anyone has any complaints, but everyone seems to be in agreement—somehow. "Then it's decided," he says. "I'll ensure that we all have the seals needed to call for aid and be called back. Ahorōtoru-san will continue running the main force of ANBU and will capable of calling the team back."

He swallows, stands up. "Council dismissed!"

* * *

**Day 105**

Jakkaru exhales quietly and lets himself simply breathe in the dim glow of the morning sun as it starts fracturing the sea mist. Beside him, Ibisu stands, easy and steady. He doesn't ask Jakkaru if he is ready or if he sure. It's never been about that, but Ibisu stands there and feels the warmth of Jakkaru sink into his bones.

_(This might be the last time they have peace for a while. They'll be throwing themselves into a war. None of his teammates asked to follow him into hell, but they won't falter in their steps at his back. He knows that. But… he mourns, anyway, knowing full well what he's doing and doing it regardless.)_

Kyatapirā and their newest teammate, Risu, come up from below deck. The ship they're on is one from the Nanami fleet, willing to take them closer to Mizu no Kuni's borders.

"Can you sense anything from this distance?" Jakkaru asks Risu quietly, tearing his eyes away from the sunrise.

Risu tilts her head. "There's… not much that I can easily sense nearby, aside from this ship. There may be a concentration of chakra signatures dotted across the islands facing us. A patrol of some kind perhaps? But I can't say for certain. Sorry, Taichō."

"Don't be," Jakkaru answers, waving off her apology, _(he doesn't need them to apologise for where they fall short, would never want them to either)_. "It's better than we would have before." He pauses, considers the border. "Alright, we'll head underwater then, since I expect they'll have a relatively strong Kirigakure force on the border with the blackout happening. You guys have you breathers?"

After they all answer positively, Jakkaru leaps over the side of the ship. He hits the water, sinks beneath the waves, and swims a few metres away once he's under the surface. His team is quick to join him and he double checks the fit of his breather.

_(It's cold, sinks past his clothes and presses itself against his skin, slips into his body like it will never leave. But he knows fire, knows the warmth of a flame, and it's easy to keep himself warm even against the ocean's chill.)_

Turning to his team, he signs them a check for status. All of them reply with a thumbs up. So, without considering anything further, he starts swimming towards the closest island. From there, they can form a plan of finding a Kakumau member to help them locate the resistance base, _(he doesn't want to go in with so little information, he knows the dangers of doing so, but sometimes there's no other choice)_.

Luckily, they don't encounter anyone as they make their way to the island. They have one near miss, but Risu identifies a group of ninjas running across the water above their heads, so they dive deep to avoid being noticed.

Upon reaching land, Jakkaru raises his body temperature, sending out waves of heat that quickly dry his clothing. Mizu no Kuni is cold, which had been expected, and he knows better than to let himself freeze with the seawater still clinging to him. His teammates do the same as they head further inland, searching for an area to hide and plan.

From her point position, Risu is the one who spots a defensible location that appears to have no sign of having been used recently. It's the remains of a stone shack. There are only three walls and the roof has clearly collapsed at some point, with plants crawling their way up the brick stones.

They don't bother trying to clear the ruins on the ground, knowing better than to leave any trace, instead they find comfortable positions to briefly sit down and rest. Jakkaru glances at Risu. "Surroundings check?" He signs at her.

"Negative," Risu signs back.

Jakkaru nods in acknowledgement. "Have a snack," he says aloud, "and we'll discuss our current plans. Anyone got an idea which island we're on?"

_(Even unmasked here, they are still ANBU. They cannot be otherwise for that would be too dangerous, and they know better than that. They did not come here to die.)_

Risu unseals the Mizu no Kuni map and lays it down in front of them, smoothing the creases so it more or less lay flat. She taps the island closest to Uzu no Kuni. "As far as I can tell, we didn't land here. I think I'd be able to sense the village here if we landed on the northern tip."

"I think we went more east than we had planned to," Kyatapirā says, tracing a path from Uzu no Kuni to a relatively small island just past the one they'd expected to land on, "when we were trying to avoid that second patrol after that close-miss with the first one. There's no main villages around here either, so it's not incomprehensible that we landed here."

"Sounds about right," Jakkaru says after swallowing a bite of his ration bar. He taps a port village. "I think we'll be able to find a Kakumau stationed here," he says. "Tomoe said that it was one of the more popular port towns and is used for shipping. I'd like to avoid heading into the main island to investigate the capital or even get close to Kirigakure at this point in time. We don't know what we should be expecting."

"Heavily guarded borders," Ibisu says and the grin is clear in his cheery tone. With his mask shifted so he can eat, Jakkaru's eye roll is clear. If anything, Ibisu's smile grows. He runs a finger across half of Mizu no Kuni's border. "Consider it, though. This here is the border that separates Mizu no Kuni from pretty much every other country. If you want to get out, you'd be taking a path cutting through this border. Therefore, Kiri-nins are likely to be guarding this area more extensively than anywhere else. Not to mention, Kirigakure is stationed closer to this area than the other islands."

Kyatapirā hums. "You think the resistance is likely to be based around the back of Mizu no Kuni then?"

"There's no way we can know until we get information," Risu says with a shrug, folding the map back up and sealing it at Jakkaru's signal. "Will Kakumau have much information about the situation with the ninjas currently?"

"Potentially," Jakkaru answers. "They're far more likely to have gathered information about the civilians, but it's hard to know as each person might gather different information. How far do we think the village is from where we are?"

"About twenty and a bit klicks," Kyatapirā answers. "What's our plan for the town? I'm assuming Taichō has to go in without his mask, but we can't go altogether."

"Risu and Ibisu will stay back and wait for our return," Jakkaru decides, after a brief moment to think and plan. "Kyatapirā, you're with me for infiltration." He glances around at them. "We'll move out in ten minutes."

All too soon, they're heading out. Thankfully, the island seems to be primarily jungle, so it's easy for the team to remain out of sight, especially with the low fog that covers so much of Mizu no Kuni.

As a result of the mist, the town seems to appear out of nowhere. At first, it's just a dark silhouette, but then the buildings appear, dark and shadowed but looming. Risu and Ibisu peel off a klick out, while Kyatapirā and Jakkaru demask and put on civilian clothing.

There's not much civilian foot traffic heading towards the town, but there's enough that Jakkaru and Kyatapirā can blend in. The closer they get to the town, the more their personality changes. Jakkaru adds a slouch to his posture, follows behind Kyatapirā with a scowl most teenagers always seem to wear when forced to do something. Meanwhile, Kyatapirā lets her shoulders slope with exhaustion, walks heavier than she normally does.

_(They are ninjas masquerading as civilians, but they are still ANBU. They are danger, steel spines and kunai-sharp blades. They will not turn the danger inward on themselves, not when their teammates are in danger. They will tear this world apart before they let each other come to harm. This is not their country, not their home, and so they are more callous for it. It is what they must be. This is war.)_

Entering the town is surprisingly easy. No one questions them as they dawdle their way down the main road, following its winding path until they reach the docks. There's a seafood market currently on, the noise and smells overwhelming. Jakkaru knows that they're unlikely to find a Kakumau member in the hustle and bustle of the market. Oh, maybe they would, it did mean a lot of gossip—but his people mainly operate on the move. The few stationary members they had are known along with their locations. So Jakkaru subtly leads Kyatapirā through the market, heading down the row that led them closest to the ships.

There aren't many ships. It probably shouldn't be surprising, but it is. A port town well known for its shipping business would normally have quite a few cargo ships anchored, but Jakkaru could only spot three with ease. He reaches out and grabs Kyatapirā's hand, swings it. Taps a message against her skin asking for her thoughts.

L-O-N-G B-A-D L-U-C-K, Kyatapirā writes out against his hand. Jakkaru considers it as he looks around. It does look like the people here are down on their luck and have been for some time. The market might be busy, but the people are scurrying quickly and avoiding long conversations. They keep their heads down. They're scared, but not looking over their shoulders so Kyatapirā and Jakkaru might be safe for a bit. W-A-R L-O-N-G-E-R T-H-A-N B-L-A-C-K-O-U-T.

It made sense, of course, but Jakkaru hadn't thought about it. The civil war must have been going on longer before the blackout had been put in place—before the Mizukage had been forced to put Mizu no Kuni into a blackout. Although, for how long the civil war had been going on for was a question Jakkaru didn't have an answer to. Mizu no Kuni had been in a state of political and civil unrest for years, not to mention the number of Kirigakure missing-nins who'd been noted as launching an attack on the Mizukage or Kirigakure government…

There! The quick flicker of movement in Jakkaru's peripherals has him tugging Kyatapirā towards a young person taking a break, leaning against a stack of crates. What catches Jakkaru's attention is the bottle-cap pinned to their shirt and the small black tattoo in the shape of a campfire, _(because Kakumau offers harbour and safety, and warmth)_.

Coming to a stop in front of them, he waits until they meet his gaze before smiling. "Hey, I don't suppose you know anyone by the name of Ryuu, do you?"

They glance at him and Kyatapirā, before meeting Jakkaru's eyes evenly. "Depends," they reply, rocking forward on their feet. "It depends who's asking."

Jakkaru grins back, _(and it is Jakkaru, something more deadly and dangerous than Toru is, something far less kind)_. "Someone's going hunting," he says, and he knows they will understand.

"Hikari," they say, smiling, _(loose and trusting, even if the paranoia doesn't fade from their body)_. "What do you need?"

"Everything and anything, to be honest," Jakkaru admits, with a shrug of one shoulder. "We're looking into the war itself in regards to all factions, both in regards to ninjas and civilians."

"That's gonna be a lot of information," Hikari says with a low whistle. "Luckily, you came to the right person. I was stationed over in the capital, but got out when everythin' started shutting down."

Jakkaru considers Hikari, _(Toru looks and sees one of his people)_, and lowers his voice to something even softer, "Do you want out?"

_(It may not be his mission, technically. But Hikari is one of his people, and so one of Uzushio's as well.)_

Hikari tilts their head, something gentle in their smile. "No," they say decisively. "I'll continue working an' helping Ryuu from where I am. 'Sides, things might change sometime soon. We've weathered through everythin' that's happened so far and we'll all keep on goin'. If we need out, we've got our routes planned, of course. It's good to know that we'll have somewhere to go. Now," they continue, eyes sharpening, leaning forward, "I can tell you a bit about the war and about the daimyō, but anything else might take more time."

"That's alright," Jakkaru says, glancing at Kyatapirā who nods in agreement. "We're not in any rush. We'll gather the information first before we make a plan of attack and act on it."

"Right," Hikari says. "Right, so the current daimyō here inherited their position, right? When the old daimyō died. But she came into her power relatively young. Something like sixteen? And only because both her father and elder brother were poisoned. From the beginning, she had little power of her own. From what I've seen, it's likely that the advisors—from the old daimyō's time—are the ones with the real power and are consolidating it. I reckon that she's probably a puppet playing to the whims of others, but that's just my thoughts and not anythin' certain."

They pause. "The most important thing you probably wanna know, though, is the reason behind the civil war, right? Most people know about the bloodline purges, but that's just a nasty little side effect of the main reason we reckon. It's the caste system that Kirigakure uses—forcin' those from the lower castes to go through their killin' ground of a school or whatever it is ninjas go through. The poverty that the lower castes are in doesn't help anyone either. I think there are three main castes? Yeah, that sounds about right.

"The highest caste is for those who can trace their families way back to Kiri's first families and whatnot. All them founders and their families, I guess. The second caste is for those who were allies on the battlefield after Kiri's founding and shortly joined. The last caste is for those who were forced to join or taken to be part of Kiri. Now, there's a lot more intricacies about it all, but that's the best I can make of it all. Those from the lower castes are often the ones treated like fodder or whatever. No one cares if they live or if they die. They like we were, y'know? An' if we had the manpower, we were always gonna revolt. Makes sense that they'd do the same. 'Specially with the bloodline purges."

Jakkaru's heard about the bloodline purges, but they'd always seemed something rather distant. Things he kind of knew and understood, but nothing he'd ever seen with his own eyes, _(but he could imagine the blood that would flood the streets with each family member cut down)_. "These bloodline purges… It's the Kiri-nins targeting clan ninjas and cutting their numbers down right? Do we have any idea why that might be happening? It'd just be destroying their own strength from the sounds of it."

Hikari shrugs. "I wouldn't know," they say, but their words are lost beneath the loud chiming of a bell. They stiffen, eyes flickering towards the port, out to sea, then back to the two in front of them. They pull out a torn piece of paper, shove it into Jakkaru's hand. "You need to go. That's the sign that the Kiri fleet's coming in for a sweep of the island. You gotta _get out!_" Jakkaru hesitates, Kyatapirā tugging him away and back towards the exit. Hikari meets their eyes, smiles weakly, "I'll be fine. They're just tryin' make us scared. Go!"

As they leave, it's easy to see the difference in the civilians. Even before, whilst scared and slightly paranoid, they'd still spoken to one another. Now the civilians are fearful, hurrying into the safety of their houses, heads down. Jakkaru and Kyatapirā are just another couple of civilians hurrying away.

There's almost no one on the road outside of the town, so they're quick to speed up and take to the treetops to reach their teammates. Risu and Ibisu appear when they're two klicks away from the town. Jakkaru motions for them all to halt.

"Kiri's got a fleet operating on their side," Jakkaru quickly explains. "From the sounds of it, the Kiri fleet does a sweep of each island occasionally. Presumably to identify any resistance-nin or to hunt down any clan ninjas."

"Does Kiri often have a fleet?" Ibisu asks, glancing at Kyatapirā and then back to Jakkaru. "I can't quite recall."

Risu nods, crossing her arms. "Yeah, they do. Mizu no Kuni have more islands so boats are often the best way to get around, and this way their water border patrols go smoother since they can remain on the water for longer. It sounds like they're mainly operating as a mobile army force currently. It'll probably remind the civilians why they shouldn't consider rioting and rebelling against Kiri's rule as well."

"What did Hikari-san give to you?" Kyatapirā asks, directing her gaze to the paper that Jakkaru had sealed away before they'd left the village.

Frowning, he unseals it before it opening it to show his teammates. It's part of a map, torn and clearly bad quality, but there's a hand drawn marker on the island over. "What do you think it is?" Ibisu asks.

"It's the symbol for a safehouse," Jakkaru discloses. "It might contain gathered reports and whatnot."

"That sounds dangerous to have out in the open," Risu says.

Jakkaru shakes his head and hands Kyatapirā to figure out a route. "We have our own code that only Kakumau members know, so we should be safe. It gets changed every so often and different locations often add their own spins on it. You got a route for us, Kyatapirā?"

"Hai," Kyatapirā answers, sealing the map away. "Do you want to move out now?"

He nods in response. "I'll take sweep position, Kyatapirā you've got point. Risu, I want you watching our surroundings but don't push yourself too much; you've got left. Ibisu, I want you on our right. Move off!"

Silently, the team starts moving through the forest. With the Kiri-nins starting to search, they know that time isn't on their side. They'll need to get off the island soon.

* * *

**With the news that Mizu no Kuni has erupted into a bloody civil war, Uzushio must make a decision over what their actions will be. In the end, they send Jakkaru and his ANBU team into Mizu no Kuni to join the resistance and support their efforts. But their ultimate goal is to ensure one thing: that they come out of the war alive.**

* * *

**_Tomoe reappears because she's cool and I love her! And you get bet so many people have questions where she comes from and what qualifications she may have. She's a civilian and fifteen and the only thing she has is Toru's endorsement. You can bet that people are going ? all around the place. Tomoe will prove that she deserves her position though, she's a badass._**

**_Kimimaro's scene actually tried to kill me, as everyone over on Discord can attest to. Also! Jugo is 200cm or something along those lines and Kimimaro is like 166cm. The height difference is very funny and I laugh at the imagery of Kimimaro holding Jugo in a headlock._**

**_Honestly, this entire chapter got frozen for a bit as I worked my way through writing the plot for the Kiri arc since I only had notes on it. And also whilst Kimimaro's scene would not be written. But we're officially into the Kiri arc now and the plot is like 2,000 words or something, which is wild._**

**_Also, I know I once did sign using : to mark the start and end, but that's no longer the plan. I'll just be using normal speech marks and I'll mention if they're signing, and then the idea is that they'll just continue to sign unless it's stated otherwise._**

**_Not much to say for this chapter, so I'll leave it here. Hope you guys enjoy! As always, you can find me at silent-silver-slip on Tumblr, and my tag for this series is The Sea Never Dies. I am attempting to run a Discord server, so drop a comment if that's something you'd be interested in. Look after yourselves!_**


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